By Chris Oddo | Saturday September 12, 2015
Whether he wins or loses, what Roger Federer has done to return to form in the last two years has been remarkable.
Photo Source: USTA
Two years ago, at the US Open, Roger Federer suffered an early knockout against Tommy Robredo that cast a morbid cloud over his future. He was left reeling, having fallen before the quarterfinals in back-to-back majors.
“After a decade of brilliance, Federer looks like a less player, Father Time applying his sleeper hold. He was, visibly, a step slow,” wrote SI’s Jon Wertheim at the time, and his words weren’t at all out of touch with what all of us witnessed on that day.
Federer himself admitted that he had self-destructed out on Louis Armstrong Stadium. “I kind of self destructed, which is very disappointing, especially on a quicker court,” Federer said after falling to Robredo, a player he had defeated ten times in ten previous matches. “I just couldn't do it. It was a frustrating performance today.”
Many felt at the time that it really could be the beginning of the end for Federer. He had struggled through a dismal summer in which he couldn’t get his back problems to go away, suffering deflating losses to players outside the top-100 during an impromptu run on the European clay after a second-round shock loss to Sergiy Stakhovsky at Wimbledon. He had made the realization that he needed a bigger, more forgiving racquet, but couldn’t find the right time to make the change.
Federer would go the rest of the season without winning a title and head into the off-season with question marks rather than the typical halo surrounding his head.
At that time, with Rafael Nadal absolutely crushing it—he won three of four Slam titles in 2013—and Novak Djokovic a force to be reckoned with, it was truly difficult to envision a future that included Grand Slam finals—let alone semifinals—featuring Roger Federer. Just for fun, here are some of the gloom and doom headlines that circulated at the time:
One from Kevin Mitchell of the Guardian after Fed’s US Open loss:
“It seems to be a tougher ask for Federer. Defeat now means more than it did a few years ago. Each setback is much closer to the end of his career than it is to the days of his dominance. In those years, he could afford the odd loss, because there were so many wins to drown them out.
Federer is still hungry, but for what? How does he measure success now: is it reaching a final of a slam? Is it going to the next Olympics? Is it beating one of his old rivals, just one more time... or is it surviving against players such as Robredo, Stakhovsky, Daniel Brands and Federico Delbonis?”
And another, on a CNN blog:
“After his worst summer in a decade, Roger Federer now stands at the unfamiliar intersection between one of the greatest careers in tennis history, if not sporting history, and a precarious future as a potential also-ran in the upper echelons of the game.”
And, the opinions of Chris Wilkinson of ESPN, from December of 2012:
“They say the number 13 is unlucky for some. My prediction is that the year 2013 will be unlucky for Roger Federer. Regardless of how well he looks after himself, Federer turns 32 next year and age is going to start catching up with him. Little injury niggles that once he could have shaken off in a couple of days take longer to heal and if he starts missing tournaments he could start to slide down the rankings.
I think Federer exceeded his expectations for the season with victory at Wimbledon and a return to world No. 1, but I really can't see how he can maintain that level for too much longer.”
A headline from an article written by Neil Harman, formerly of the London Times, after Federer’s loss to Robredo:
“Self-destructing Roger Federer forced to confront reality of waning powers”
And the words of John McEnroe at the end of the 2013 season:
“[Federer will] be a factor for as long as he steps on a court but to win 7 best of five set matches and against at least two of the top 3 guys, that’s going to be extremely difficult.
[…] I’d be surprised if he didn’t get to the quarters, semis and possibly the final of a Major before he quit.
To win one? I personally don’t see that. It doesn’t mean that it’s not going to happen. Maybe he can use that as motivation. I just don’t think that physically at this stage he is going to be able to overcome the hurdles of those younger, hungrier guys.”
The point of showing these headlines is not to jump on tennis writers for digging an early grave for Federer. They simply wrote what they saw, and what they saw is what we all saw: A Federer that was lost, teetering, and badly in need of change.
Early in 2014, however, we pick up the story as a 32-year-old Federer committed to a new, larger-framed racquet and a player-coach relationship with his idol Stefan Edberg. What is special about this two-year revival of the Federer career is not that Federer has been successful, or that he’s won titles (10 since the beginning of 2014 to be exact, while tacking on 18 final appearances, two of which came at Wimbledon), it’s that he’s had the courage and the drive to reinvent himself.
He sought a new coach, a new racquet, and a completely new approach to his tennis—without guarantees.
The game—at least in the way that the most regal and aesthetically pleasing shotmaker in tennis history wanted to play it—was passing Federer by two years ago, and now it seems like he’s passing the game by again. It’s been a stunning turnaround, one that has seen Federer execute a many-pronged plan to get back to the top of tennis. Sensing the need to “Djokify” his movement, he’s put in many exacting hours to ensure that his footwork is more explosive and precise. He’s retooled his backhand so that it can withstand long rallies and even play a critical role in his ramped-up aggressive game style. He’s brought the serve back to where it was half a decade ago, reinforcing the notion that while he might not be the most powerful server, he is the best spot server of all-time.
As a result, the confidence that once flagged has come back with a vengeance. It’s a testament to Federer’s ability to keep putting himself out there, his love for the game and his desire to compete. Some have said that he would have been wise to retire in 2012 at the peak of his powers, but Federer is embracing the challenge of trying to redefine what is possible for a player in his mid-thirties, while all the while knowing that there are no guarantees. So here we are, on the eve of Federer’s second of back-to-back major finals, two years after we were all so busy declaring that he was more than likely finished as a true impact player in the way we’ve become accustomed, wondering: what next?
Can he win the US Open today? Can he reclaim the No. 1 ranking and compete for majors next year, maybe the year after? Even if we answer no, can we doubt wunderkind Federer’s ability to prove us wrong?
In Cincinnati, Federer was asked if he was better than he was ten years ago and he said that he believed he was. It seemed strange at first listen, but watching him win 28 consecutive sets—his longest such streak since 2008—and take out both of 2015’s Grand Slam winners with ease, it just might be true.
Federer had the courage to tear up and rebuild his game at 32, when many felt he’d be better off retiring. He didn’t have to catch fire and prove all the doubters wrong in doing so, but the fact that he has done it makes him all the more inspiring.