Expectation breeds disappointment - thoughts on Federer's week in Brisbane

As usual after a Federer loss, it takes me a while to process the disappointed emotions.  As I watched the final in Brisbane against Lleyton Hewitt I felt everything from confusion, concern, frustration, disappointment, annoyance, a bit of relief at times, and only little bits of happiness.  I realize, however, that I set myself up for the negative feelings when my expectations are set so high that only winning the tournament will satisfy me.  That realization makes me have to take a more realistic look at what I am expecting from Federer for the year 2014.

First of all, some thoughts on the week in Brisbane and on the final.  I think overall we saw some good positive signs.  He seemed to be moving well for the most part, his serve seemed to be back on board for much of the week, and it just seemed like he had worked himself back into good form.  That's why it was so confusing, especially in the first set of the final, to see a completely different player than what we had seen all week.  Since it doesn't sound like the back was an issue (thankfully), I have absolutely no explanation for that set.  It was encouraging to see him find his rhythm in the 2nd set.  My hope was that he would take that momentum and let it carry him through to the win.  My biggest frustration/disappointment was his inability to capitalize on his multitude of break chances once again.  He won't win tournaments if this continues.  However, the fight, determination, and really quite brilliant play at times from Hewitt gave him an edge that it seemed Roger simply didn't have in this situation.  Was there any feeling of him wanting his old friend to have the special victory?  I tend to think not, but my husband is convinced it played a factor.

On to expectations.  I admit I set myself up because I knew that technically he should win this tournament, and it just seemed that after such a difficult year in 2013 in which he struggled with injury, what better way to start a new season and prove to himself and others that there was a new mindset and determination moving forward now that he is feeling well again.  However, at the stage he is at in his career, with all he has going on in his personal life and with all he has accomplished in the past, I simply can't be "expecting" the very highest anymore.  Do I still desperately want it?  Oh yeah!  But is it realistic?  No.  And do I want to have a depressing tennis year if he doesn't meet up to my "standards?"  Absolutely not!  So over the next week I need to work on my mindset going into the Australian Open and the rest of this year, setting more realistic goals and enjoying every moment that I get to watch him play, no matter whether he is in Maestro mode or in Federror mode.  

As for the positives to take out of Brisbane, he made it to the final, he got good match practice with his new racquet, his friend Rusty got to win a special tournament in his home country (which he really deserved), and he is feeling good with great determination for Melbourne, whatever the outcome ends up being.  Ok, I feel much better already.

Roger Federer starting 2014 off right

Happy New Year Federer fans!  I can't think of a better way to ring in 2014 than with a decisive first win for Roger.  And for me it really was ringing in the new year since I was up watching it at 1 a.m.  I actually went to bed and was going to see the results and hopefully a replay on You Tube in the morning - after all, this is only a 250 tournament, right?  But I woke up a bit before the match was going to start and of course then there was no way I was going back to sleep.  It was well worth sitting at my computer in my bathrobe in the middle of the night!

After the year Roger had in 2013 none of us knew for sure what to expect.  But he has been sounding confident, knowing he is feeling well finally and had a good block of training time, and that certainly gave me confidence that he was going to be a different player than what we saw much of last year.  And that was definitely the case.  I had come to expect, though dread in 2013, the multitude of errors that were coming off his racquet, whether using his old trustworthy 90' or the new bigger racquet head he tried in the summer.  Was that going to be the new but older Federer?  Instead what we saw last night was the confident and aggressive Roger that only showed up on occasion last year.  Of course this still needs to prove itself over several matches, but to me he looked like a different guy to the way he had been playing.  The combination of injury, lack of practice and lack of confidence makes a huge difference.  

I am certainly hoping the negative press and media members who had been claiming his drop in form was all about age will soon have to eat their words and admit that even though he didn't talk about it much until the end of the year, it really was about injury not about decline.  He will have a test against Matosevic in the next round, but I see him getting through it in straight sets.  In fact, to be honest, I see him winning this tournament to start his year off just the way we would want to see it.  Hopefully I'm not setting myself up for disappointment, but that's how much I believe in him for 2014.