With 2013 tennis season coming to an end, the tennis population is guessing what has happened to the success of Roger Federer and what are his chances of winning any more grand slam tournaments, I am one of those people wondering as well.
My thoughts are as follows; the longer Roger waits to retire, his legacy will slowly, go from Best ever to one of the best. Of course this is still great, but if he were to win one more soon or 2 back to back, the energy will again provide him the title of Greatest of all time.
Now, if he stays on tour, doesn’t win a slam and continues to drop in the rankings, now #7, it will continue to be frustrating for all of us.
Why is he not as successful as he used to be; firstly, the competition is stellar, younger and very fit. Secondly, against the top players, I believe Roger still is ‘stubborn,’ meaning against Rafa Nadal, he plays him with ground strokes versus coming to net. He will not beat Rafa at the baseline, but can win at the net. This stubbornness has been over the last few years and now Nadal can volley and counter the volley, so my strategy for Roger to win at net, may be too late.
If anyone can win a grand slam after a tough year it was Pete Sampras and hopefully, Roger. However, Pete had a huge serve and though Roger’s serve is fantastic, he doesn’t seem to have the ace ability and of course, competition on the return is at a all time high, so it is doubtful that serving alone will aid Roger as it did Pete.
Stay tuned, the next grand slam is the Australian Open, on hard courts. Nadal, Murray, Josivic are all great competitors that will not give up easily to let Roger win. I do think and hope Roger will attain one more before retirement.