As the dust settles on another Wimbledon fortnight and the hype and excitement of Roger Federer's 8th title there begin to fade just a little bit, it's time to share some of my own thoughts on these incredible happenings.
A year ago we were mourning his announcement that he would not only miss the Olympics but all the rest of 2016. What did it all mean? Would he every regain his form to challenge the top guys again, let alone win not just titles, but grand slams? No one knew, not even Roger. He didn't win a title all of 2016. I guess if he had to be stuck at a title number, 88 was a good one, but I was starting to question how many more he could even win.
Have
you ever had a dream that, while a bit strange, also seemed so real
that the next day you ask yourself "Did some of that really happen, or
was it all just a dream?" In a way that's what the past six months of Roger's career feels like. Did he really win the Australian Open, beating Nadal after being down a break in the 5th set? Well, I've watched it a million times on my DVR so I know it must be real. How about winning Indian Wells a little over a month later, beating Rafa quite handily on the way to the title, and overcoming the "quarter of death?" I watched that one in person from the second row so I know it's true, experiencing some heaven-on-earth moments over the couple weeks I was there. But Miami - really?? Maybe that one is a dream. I mean, come on, the guy is 35 years old, came back from a six month break, gets to another Masters 1000 final and beats Nadal FOR THE THIRD TIME THIS YEAR to win his third big title in a row. Crazy!
Disbelief in Miami
As always, Roger is so wise in his scheduling. Though we missed him during clay, which I always grit my teeth and just through anyway, he knew how much he can handle at this stage of his life, and he knew what his real goal was - his beloved grass (plus, by missing the clay season it meant he could come to Seattle for another dream experience for me). Sure, there were some questions when he lost in his first match in Stuttgart. But even dreams aren't perfect. I think it was a good wake-up call, however, because he then went on to cloud 9 in Halle and, of course a perfect Wimbledon, not losing a set in either tournament. So the dream continues. Seeing his joy holding the trophy, seeing the tears come when he saw his kids in the audience, watching all the hugs from family, royalty (tennis & otherwise) and friends was so endearing, I just couldn't stop smiling. So Roger is now the holder of 19 (did you get that - NINETEEN!!) majors, after being stuck at 17 for almost five years. No, it's not just a dream - we really got to experience this absolutely joyful six months. Is it too much to dream of another US Open title, another World Tour finals title, getting back to #1? Maybe, but I've seen dreams come true and it would be hard to be surprised by anything at this point.
Once again on Sunday Federer fans were treated to a masterclass display by our Maestro as he won a record 9th Halle title and his 92nd overall. You'd think that after so many that it would start to get boring or routine after a while, but that is so far from the truth. And looking at his happy face with his trophy, you would think it was one of his first.
It was one of those matches where he was simply in his groove. Sure, Zverev didn't play his best, but much of that was due to the fact that Roger didn't allow him to. Watching him play when he's in this mode is without a doubt one of the most beautiful in sport. The variety of shots he comes up with, his incredibly graceful movement on court, and the ease with which he does it never gets old. But of course, anyone reading this blog is intensely aware of all of that, so I don't need to go on, though we do need to be extremely appreciative to still be able to watch this level of play at 35 years old.
After Roger's surprise loss in the first round of Stuttgart I wasn't necessarily nervous, but I couldn't help but wonder what our expectations should be after the 10 week break. Just because he had an absolutely incredible dream comeback after his 6 months off, that doesn't mean it will happen again. As one of my twitter friends reminded me, he could very easily have been ranked around 30 after Australia if he had lost early, which wouldn't have been surprising after such a long break. Instead he completely spoiled us by winning three prestigious tournaments, putting the locker room on notice that he's still a force to be reckoned with.
Still, though, what should our expectations really be? All of a sudden he is considered by many to be the favorite to win Wimbledon again. Whether that helps or hurts him, I don't know, or if it makes any difference at all. Of course a good draw would help, but look at the "quarter of death" draw he had in Indian Wells and what he did with that! I think it really depends mostly on himself. When he's playing the way we know he can, when he's confident, aggressive, and serving well, he almost certainly will win any match he plays, especially on his special grass surface. The question is, of course, will he?
I'm trying not to "expect" him to win, or to feel like it's not successful unless he does. But though my mind tells me those things, and that he has already given us so much by winning in Australia, my heart knows how disappointed I will be if he doesn't win. However, I'm going to try to enjoy every single moment of watching him the next couple weeks on the hallowed tennis grounds of Wimbledon, and I know he will be loving every moment.
It's middle Sunday at Wimbledon, with the players and spectators enjoying a break from the harried pace. Of course, there are differing opinions on whether this time honored tradition should be upheld even when rain delays wreaked havoc with the schedule and will throw off the Monday custom of all the Round of 16 being played in one day. In fact, Roger Federer is one of the players who will be affected by this. Although he successfully completed his third round match with a decisive win, as did his next opponent, they have decided to postpone his next match until Tuesday so his whole section will be in the same predicament - having to play matches on back-to-back days (in fact, a couple will have to play three days in a row).
But even with that little bit of negative, everything else has been a whole lot of positive. The King of Wimbledon Center Court has looked sublime in his first three matches. While #1 and #2 seeds Djokovic and Nadal have both lost a set (or more) in the first week, Roger has not been challenged whatsoever, looking very much like the seven time champion so far. And we are well aware that matches that look on paper to be simple (e.g., Stakovsky 2013), in reality the result can sometimes turn out quite different, so floating through the first week with no stress on his mind or body will be much appreciated.
The second week obviously will become much tougher. My hope is for another decisive win against another opponent who delivered a shock loss in '13 US Open, Tommy Robredo. As that loss never would have happened had Roger been healthy, let's hope he can put the matter to rights in a quick three-setter so he will be ready for whoever his quarterfinal opponent may be, which is still quite up in the air since two of the third round matches have yet to be played.
I continue to have high hopes and good feelings about this tournament. I know we need to take one match at a time, since anything can happen, but Roger is playing great tennis, serving incredibly well, keeping the errors very low (in fact, in his second round match his error count was only 5 for the whole match!). If he can keep this up I believe he could be the one hold the trophy next Sunday. One more week and we will know!
It has been way too long since I have done a post, thanks to some health issues I have been experiencing. But tennis goes on and I thought I would check in before the great Wimbledon begins.
Of course, our hopes that Federer would go deep at Roland Garros this year was cut short when he unexpectedly lost in the 4th round, but I'm not a clay fan anyway and was so very ready to move onto grass. Roger had pressure on him at his beloved Halle, being the only title he had to defend from his depressing 2013 season, but he was up to the task, playing well to hold his up his 7th trophy there.
So here we go into Wimbledon, a tournament that was crazy last year with many unexpected losses, including the one that broke many hearts, Federer's second round loss to Stakhovsky. But this is a new year with a healthy Roger, and he realizes as much as anyone that his chances for winning majors gets less as time goes by, so this is a perfect opportunity to grab that elusive #18. In fact, not only would it be #18 for majors, but it would be Wimbledon #8 and title #80. Given that his favorite number is 8, with his birthday being 8/8/81, it seems like the peRFect situation. The draw is out now and Roger appears to have a pretty decent one for a change, other than the potential difficulty against Julien Benneteau in round 2, who has beaten him a couple times. I feel that Roger will be highly motivated for Wimbledon this year, though, and that he is going to do very well. Hopefully I'm not setting myself up for disappointment. I will keep this short and sweet, but just wanted to write something after so long and I will try to do much better during this exciting fortnight of tennis.
