Dubai: In 2009, Roger Federer lost the Australian Open final to Rafael Nadal and couldn’t hold back tears during his runner-up speech. “God, it’s killing me,” Federer had said, mirroring the devastation caused by his third straight Grand Slam final loss to his Spanish nemesis.
The tears were back the following year, at the 2010 Australian Open final, but this time, the Swiss legend was wiping them away in joy. A lot had changed for him since that crushing loss to Nadal. He married long-time girlfriend Mirka and became a father of twin daughters in the summer of 2009, won two more Grand Slam titles, his first and only one at the French Open and a record 15th Grand Slam with yet another at Wimbledon, before wresting back the Australian Open crown in 2010.
Fatherhood had definitely changed Federer. He eased himself into a schedule that complemented his advancing years and new commitments and while his enjoyment of the game never shifted, his priorities did.
It showed while he waltzed to his 17th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2012. Happiness began to come easy for the Swiss, the burden of carrying the mantle of men’s tennis seemingly off his shoulders. He was far more relaxed on the court and the losses didn’t hurt as much. He was close to attaining nirvana.
Then after a year marred by back injury, Federer decided to take matters into his own hands and make radical changes to see if they worked. He hired his childhood idol Stefan Edberg as coach and changed his racquet to a bigger one at the start of 2014. He also announced he would be resigning as president of the ATP Players’ Council, a position he had held since 2008.
He made the final of 2014 Wimbledon, before losing to Novak Djokovic. After the match, Federer even managed a chuckle as he told the crowd that he was distinctly lucky to have taken the match to five sets. It was clear the transformation that had come over his persona, what with him becoming father again to another set of twins, this time boys. Nothing was going to come between him and his new-found state of bliss.
Dangerous state
It is precisely this state that makes the 33-year-old so dangerous at this year’s Australian Open that begins in Melbourne today. Having notched up his 1,000th victory with his title win in Brisbane two weeks back, Federer is on course to face Andy Murray in the quarter-finals in the bottom half of the draw. Also in the bottom half are Nadal and Tomas Berdych.
“Yeah, I do believe that [can win a fourth Australian Open],” Federer said when asked about his chances in Melbourne.
“Then again, it’s just talk. At the end of the day, I’ve got to do the running, I’ve got to do the clutch play when it matters the most.”
Whatever happens, the Nadal camp believes Federer is the greatest player of all time.
“Federer is the best in the history of the game alongside Rod Laver and, unfortunately for us, it is like that,” Nadal’s uncle and coach Toni Nadal said this month.
And while the Swiss great shows no signs of letting up as he approaches his 34th birthday later this year, a younger generation of stars led by the likes of Kei Nishikori, Grigor Dimitrov and Milos Raonic are starting to believe.
But the man to beat still has to be Djokovic. The world No. 1 from Serbia has won four of his seven major titles in Melbourne and relishes the fast hardcourt. He is set to meet Swiss Stan Wawrinka, defending champion and the man who beat him in last year’s final, in the semi-finals.
Djokovic’s start to the year hasn’t been ideal though. After pulling out of the final of the Abu Dhabi exhibition event with fever, his match preparations were further cut short by giant Croatian Ivo Karlovic in the Qatar Open quarter-finals. It was even worse for Nadal, who suffered a shock defeat in his first match of the season in Doha to German qualifier Michael Berrer as he continues to recover from appendix surgery.
Wawrinka won in a relatively weak field in Chennai, but all eyes will be on his more illustrious compatriot in his quest for an 18th Grand Slam title. But don’t expect any tears from him if he doesn’t get there, for he is long past that stage now. He has nothing to prove to anyone so it’s best to just sit back and watch the ageing genius at work.
