Resurging Roger ?

By his own lofty standards, Roger Federer had a disappointing 2013. He failed to make it to the finals of any of the four Grand Slams for the first time in a decade. He failed to win any of the Masters 1000 events. He had a shocking exit in Round 2 at Wimbledon at the hands of Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine. In fact the only title he won in 2013 was the Gerry Weber Open in Halle which is the warm-up grass-court tournament before Wimbledon. And when you are talking about Roger Federer, that does not count.

Also for the first time in his glittering career he was troubled by injuries. His back not a 100% for the best part of the year. This was the most evident when, in the 17 matches he lost last year, his normally reliable forehand was not working. His service was also not at its absolute best.

All this naturally led to the calls for his retirement. People started wondering if this was indeed the beginning of the end or maybe, some feared, the end itself. It was hard to believe that this man, after winning his seventh Wimbledon title, was the Number 1 player in the world in July 2012. That seemed to be ages ago. Plus the fact that Rafa Nadal was constructing one of the greatest comebacks in sport history and the continued dominance of Novak Djokovic, nearly everyone found it easy to write Roger off.

But Champions do not care about this. They do not know when to quit. And Roger Federer is a champion like few others. He went back to the drawing board. He worked, by his own admission, the “hardest” in the off-season. He split with his coach of three-and-half-years and hired six-time Grand Slam champion Stefan Edberg. This was a major signal of intent from the Swiss. He was not ready to give up just yet. He was ready to work harder, ready to do whatever it takes. He was surprisingly motivated for a man who has achieved almost everything humanly possible.

And the results are there for all to see. We are just a few weeks into the new season and Roger has already matched the number of titles he won in 2013. He won the Dubai Tennis Championships beating the world number 2 Novak Djokovic in the semis and Tomas Berdych, who beat him in 2013, in the finals. In the Australian Open before that, the years first major, Roger produced some vintage displays to beat Jo-Wilfred Tsonga and Andy Murray in consecutive matches. The confidence was coming back. The game was coming back. In the Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells, Federer was narrowly defeated in the 3^rd set tie-break by Djokovic. 

Overall, this season the signs have been encouraging. Roger has provided enough evidence to prove that a poor 2013 was more down to injuries and bad luck than age. This could still be the year when Roger adds to the total of 17 major titles. A record eighth Wimbledon title or a sixth US Open crown is not too far from his reach on this evidence. One thing is for sure though. He is not finished yet. Not even close.