With Roger Federer’s latest, and most perplexing, defeat in the semi-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, people are persistently saying how horribly he’s playing and how dismal his season has been.
Yahoo Tennis’s Pritha Sarkar said that 2009 is becoming “a wretched season” for Federer. True, he hasn’t won a title, but let’s examine just how wretched it’s been.
Federer has played in four tournaments in 2009, garnering a 17-4 record. Note that in those four tournaments, one was a Grand Slam and two were ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments (formerly more sensibly named Masters Series events).
Note that he has reached the semi-final or better at each one. Note that he has not lost to anyone outside of the top five. Note also that he has won matches against four top-ten players. And note finally that he has not lost in straight sets at any tournament. You can even note that he’s won almost a million dollars in prize money in just about three months. One more note; he’s reached the final of four straight Grand Slams.
Now look at the results of former top-ten player James Blake, who has played in six tournaments, amassing a 9-6 record. His best result is a semi-final showing at San Jose. He has lost five times to players ranked below him, including Lleyton Hewitt, who was ranked 103 at the time.
He also played in the Davis Cup where he lost to Stanislas Wawrinka in four sets. He has won just over $113,000 in prize money. His ranking is steadily slipping just about week by week, which is pretty sad given the level of talent that Blake possesses.
So if we look at the situation from this standpoint, perhaps we can put our tears for Federer on hold for the time being. The vast majority of what tennis pundits say is absolutely spot on. Namely that Federer needs a coach, his form is slipping and his confidence is shot to . . . crap! But Blake, I'm sure, would take a wretched Federer season any and every day over his own wretched season.
It’s also true that Federer’s performance against Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals left a lot to be desired. After playing well in the first set, he suddenly started playing like an amateur. Well, he actually started playing like someone who needs a coach, has slipping form and little confidence.
So what’s eating Roger Federer? He was unfortunately felled by a serious illness that ultimately took his edge away. It’s painfully true that bad habits are easy to learn and hard to unlearn. With him fighting the illness, his training, fitness and footwork took a hit. When that happens, a tennis player will make subconscious adjustments to compensate for those losses, thus learning the bad habits.
For instance, if you spent a year hitting a forehand from a position that’s half a step behind where you usually hit it from, when you get your fitness back, you will still be hitting that forehand as if you’re behind that half step, even though you’re in position. The result is shanked shots, long shots and shots in the bottom of the net because you have lost your usual combination of footwork and timing.
The result of that is the loss of confidence in your shots. The solution is to acknowledge these events and have a coach that can correct them for you. You must work to erase the bad habits whether they were your fault or not.
Federer could also benefit from a stroke specialist. He needs one for his backhand and one for his forehand. The forehand so that he can get the timing and confidence back, and the backhand so he can stop acting like his backhand should be attackable. It shouldn’t be because it’s good enough to be a weapon.
The major reason that Roger Federer needs a coach is that he has to train specifically to beat Rafael Nadal. Even with all of his struggles, Federer and Nadal are still the class of the field. That’s saying something given how crowded full of extraordinary young talent the top 10 in the ATP is right now.
Rafael Nadal has, in the past three seasons, taught everyone in professional tennis a good lesson; that you can and should always strive to improve your game. Do not rest on your laurels or on your accomplishments. Even though he was the undisputed king of clay, he was not satisfied with the prospect of being a one surface player; he wanted the whole ball of wax.
To that end, he seems to constantly evaluate his game. We have seen him name a part of his game that needs improvement and within a few months, observers can see the product of the work he has done. We saw it with his serve, with his court positioning and willingness to move forward and with his backhand.
Each has improved exponentially and allowed him to do something else that he specifically set out to do: win Wimbledon. Federer must find the balance between knowing that he’s Roger Federer and knowing that even Roger Federer has room to improve.
The other lesson that Nadal has given to Federer is that there will always be players who are younger, faster and stronger than you are coming up. And these players are specifically gunning for you. That’s a lesson that all top professional tennis players must learn. It’s not only lonely at the top, it’s scary.
The dogs are nipping at your ankles and the crabs are trying to pull you back down into the barrel. You have to combat their youth and ambition with your experience and superior knowledge of the game. You’ve been not only where they are, but where they’re trying to go, and that will get you through countless matches.
The tennis pundits are throwing out names of many possible coaches for Federer. It would be interesting to see him work with Brad Gilbert. Gilbert had an extraordinary worker in Andre Agassi and it seems that other players he tries to coach are not up to that level and he falls out of favor with them. They’re just not willing to drag boulders up mountains like Agassi was!
Federer could use a dose of that work ethic at least for a while. By the same token, he should find the sheer joy in playing tennis again. It’s a fun sport and he does it well. Not to mention that he makes his living playing a game. There’s been far too many tears and not enough joy lately.
After the Australian Open final Federer wasn’t crying because he lost that match. He was crying because he’d lost at Wimbledon in 2008. He was crying because he didn’t win a gold medal in singles at the Olympics He was crying because he hasn’t been able to figure out how to beat one player. And he was crying because he wasn’t able to match Pete Sampras’ record of 14 Grand Slam titles.
And that’s the last thing that’s eating Federer: he’s not playing match by match and shot for shot. Every stroke that he hits is weighted down with his grander ambitions. You can’t win that way. Your racquet will be way too heavy to swing. The Williams sisters always say they don’t look ahead at the draw; they focus on the match they are playing right then. That’s the ticket.
Finally, Federer might also benefit with some extended time with Sampras if Pete is willing. He’s the player who, in recent memory, was the undisputed dominant player for six straight seasons and then had to deal with a drop in form and results. He knows the pain of losing at his beloved Wimbledon and knows what it takes emotionally and physically to reach the pinnacle of success after a fall.
For that matter, he could spend some time with Agassi as well. Agassi fell down way further than Federer is now, having to work his way back to the Tour from the Challenger level. No player, no matter how great, ceases to need some mentoring from time to time and Federer is no different. So Pete! Andre! Give Roger a call. Or knock on his door. Put your arm around him and lead him back to the top.
So maybe we can stop writing the obituary of Roger Federer. He has a lot of work to do, but to paraphrase Richard Pryor, “he ain’t dead yet.”
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