· Lost to his greatest rival in hunt for his 14th & record equalizing grand slam . Lost in the 5th set , third time in last 4 grand slam finals to a single creature. Could not handle the pressure & cried showing full emotion in front of 20000 spectators .
· Lost to a newbie challenger just for fifth time in a row .
· World’s best available coach refused to coach the gentleman after a 7 day trial.
· Girlfriend for last 9 years got pregnant.
· Received best sportsman spirit award for 5th time in a row .
· Made worldwide headlines & a you tube favourite when he smashed a racket on court after 5 years of model gamesmanship.
· Accepted Monte Carlo wildcard at the last moment after deciding to shun the masters tournament this time.
· Got married to girlfriend just 2 days before the tournament begins .
All the above in the period of three turbulent months from Jan 15th to April 15th . It might not have made news if the concerned gentleman is not the most famous tennis player on the globe.
I cant tell whether this is a good time to be Roger Federer or not . As Pete Bodo says Fed is on the Third Stage of Greatness , these things might become the part of the folklore after 5-10 years . At this moment , we can’t safely say where this Jet is going to land . After flying more or less on target for last 5 glorious years , the flight is facing turbulence . We prey that it would remain a temporary blip in Rogers career .
The marriage is also a decision which might be career-changing for the great Swiss . Only 3 men have won a grand slam after marriage since 2000 . And roger has won 13 being a bachelor . So he has a happy headache to face . Things like changing a diaper in the middle of the night may bring chaos if this happens before Wimbledon finale. We hope this wedding to Mirca wil bring stability to the applecart & make Fed regain his lost mojo.
P.S.-I hoped that I didn’t have to write a post on fed back to back , but circumstances forced me & I don’t regret it either.
Surprisingly Federer's popularity on internet has improved fourfold after he has shown more human tendencies by failing . In his hey days 2004-2007 when he routinely had more than 90% win loss ratio most tabloids didnt even bother to touch him > It proves that mortality is more open to reaction than flawlessness.
ReplyDeleteSice last couple of years, i am out of touch with tennis...i am not getting time to follow it. But it's good to get update on Federer through your blog.
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