Thursday, July 12, 2012

Accomplishments of the last 9 months


It's still feeling a little strange not to be turning on the TV the moment I get up in the morning with anticipation to see what the next story line is in the Wimbledon saga.  While I realize there are some smaller tournaments on this week that I could catch some tennis action from, to be honest they pale in comparison to what we just witnessed and it feels better, at least for a few days, to give myself a little breather in preparation for the excitement to come in the mid to late summer, which there will be plenty of!

I keep ruminating over all that has been accomplished with Roger Federer's win on Sunday.  On top of the obvious ones I (and thousands of others) have already talked about extensively (17, 7, 1) I am amazed with the way he has taken the challenge of raising his game to the level necessary to get back to the very top once again, over the two rivals who, between the two of them, have ruled the grand slam world for the last 2 1/2 years since his last major win.  After two heartbreaking losses last year from 2 sets up, he took the challenge of making the adjustments necessary, and look what he has done since then.  Last year he came back and won a 500 level tournament, a Masters 1000 and once again the World Tour Finals which, might I add, is against just the top 8 in world (I always wonder why he doesn't get more credit for this!).


Although he had a disappointing loss against Nadal in Australia, he went on and continued to win a couple 500 level tournaments and two more Masters 1000s, certainly more than what the former world #1 was accomplishing.  He had put himself in a position to get back to #1 in the world.  I think he knew what he was doing by not using all his energy getting to another final of the French Open, in which he would have to play once again the King of Clay, and save himself for what he had a very good shot at - his precious Wimbledon.  Djokovic can have his win in the semis of RG!


If I'm counting right Roger has won 8 titles since last year's U.S. Open (3 500s, World Tour final, 3 1000s and a grand slam).  No one else on tour has even come close to this level of accomplishment.  What a last nine months this has been for Fed fans, to see their hero go through heartbreaking adversity, work through the difficulties, and come back with incredible triumphs.  Victory is all the sweeter, especially to such an amazing degree, after the winless periods.  I couldn't be more proud of him in his successes in fighting back and proving so many wrong who had written him off.  We'll see how the next months play out.  It's easy to get greedy and want him to continue to win everything.  Maybe he will and maybe he won't.  But even if he doesn't nothing can take away what he has achieved.


There are some pictures floating around of Roger and Mirka on a sailboat on their vacation.  I'm going to choose to give them their privacy by not posting them myself this time, but I hope they're having a very relaxing and refreshing time.  They certainly deserve it!

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