It does the heart of the hard core Federer fans good, those who have stuck with him through thick and thin, never believing the tiresome reports that he is done and that he should retire, to watch him come up with such a dominant performance against top 10 player Jo Wilfred Tsonga, someone who beat him convincingly in the last major they played in. The Federer we watched send Tsonga packing in straight sets in the 4th round of the Australian Open was one reminiscent of the guy who made 23 straight grand slam semifinals and 18 out of 19 finals.
From the very start of the match he looked in control, confident and dictating points, aggressive and forcing errors, not allowing Jo to play his game. It wasn't that Jo was playing bad, but Roger simply didn't give him the opportunity to play the hard core style that has given Roger problems in the past. Not only was Federer playing aggressive and in control tennis, but the errors that have plagued him over the last year were largely absent.
He has been talking for the last few months about the problems with his back last year and how this didn't allow him to have the large practice blocks he needed to play well, not to mention simply not allowing him to move in the way he needs to move to play the kind of tennis we had come to expect. Many in the tennis world seemed to pretty much ignore this, however, just saying he was in decline and that he couldn't keep up any longer with the younger generation who were overtaking him. Regardless of how the rest of this week goes, though, I think he has proved already that he is still very capable of playing top notch tennis that will challenge anyone he plays.
There was a lot of talk during the match about the difference the new racquet is making for him. It seems to be allowing him more power and a bit bigger sweet spot. When he tried it earlier last year he wasn't at a point with his body where he could give it a fair trial. But this is the perfect time for him to catch up with the other players in the equipment department to give him a little more help that he needed. It's so encouraging to see this making a difference for him and that he is adapting so well to it.
Of course, stronger tests are on the horizon for him as he has to take on Murray now, who has a slight edge over him in the head-to-head. Personally I think he is up to the task, especially given that he completed his match in less than 2 hours and should be rested and ready for the challenge at hand. Hopefully in a couple days I will be writing another post talking about how amazing he is playing and contemplating the semifinals. After his last match it seems like a good possibility.
For tennis fans we look forward with much anticipation to the grand slams. We plan our schedules around them, we deprive ourselves of sleep, and our lives become crazy for two weeks at a time - at least that's what happens to me. My TV is on at least 12 hours a day, and I am frantically trying to keep up with all the tweets on the computer. Oh, and you mean I still have to work, cook and grocery shop too, not to mention try to get enough sleep to function? But these are the things we do for tennis because we love it.
For me the Australian Open is my favorite slam - the Happy Slam as Roger calls it. For those not living in the southern hemisphere it comes during dreary January, always a letdown after the busy holidays and still a long ways off till spring and summer. What could be better than watching amazing tennis in brilliant sunshine and hot temperatures?
Ok, let's get to what's really important - Roger Federer! He has now successfully completed two rounds with straight set wins in each (giving him a record 70 wins at the AO). In his first match against Duckworth he played reasonably well but still with a few bugs to work out, I thought. But in his 2nd round match against Blaz Kavcic, wow did he give his fans a treat!. These are the matches that those who love him, those who sacrifice sleep and watch him in the middle of the night, totally live for. The first two sets were vintage Federer at his absolute best. The winners he was hitting out of nowhere were breathtaking. Several times Kavic watched the ball go by with disbelief. How can a mere mortal come up with those shots?
Those who went through the difficult 2013 season with him know that he would sometimes play a great match giving his fans hope and then turn around and play a puzzling and disappointing match in the next round. Given this fact I was very aware while watching the match that we have to completely appreciate these matches where he is playing in god mode. At the same time, though, it felt like this was a very positive and encouraging sign of what's to come this year, as he is now healthy, he has had a lot of time to practice, and he is adjusting to his new bigger racquet.
At this point it's one match at a time, but I plan to appreciate every moment that I get to watch Roger play his beautiful, graceful and jaw-dropping tennis.
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.
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.
You know, I really try not to be too much of an over-the-top fan girl for Roger Federer, but these pictures are just too awesome not to share:
Seriously, what more needs to be said?
There may still be several more days of 2013, but for tennis fans the new year has already begun. You see, tennis is starting!!!! Earlier today I had the first match of the Hopman Cup on a live stream on my computer. Now I have a replay of one of the Abu Dhabi matches on my TV. Even though these are just exhibitions, it is still a sign that the new season is beginning.
But much more important than either of these is that Roger Federer has now arrived in Brisbane Australia to get his first tournament of the season underway. You could tell his arrival was met with much excitement when they set up a spot for a press conference right in the airport at 7:00 a.m. Being the accommodating fellow that he is, he went along with it.
There really has been quite a lot of excitement going on in the Federer camp in the past week or so. It started with the news that he was starting a management agency for athletes called Team8 with his manager Tony Godsick, having already signed Del Potro and Dimitrov. The news got much more exciting, however, when he announced on Christmas Eve that his twins Myla and Charlene were going to be big sisters to a new little Fed baby, due sometime in 2014. That certainly set the Twitter world on fire! The latest news is that Stefan Edberg, who spent a week with him in Dubai in the off season, is going to be working with him as a coach starting at the Aussie Open for at least 10 weeks during the upcoming year.
That feels like a lot of momentum to start the year, coming off of a season in which he struggled with injury, leading to a lack of effective practice and a lack of confidence, managing to only win one title the whole year. He is highly motivated coming into 2014, however, and if he can stay healthy I believe he is going to have a much better year, hopefully resulting in many titles, maybe even another grand slam to add to his incredible 17. It would be a great way to start the year to win in Brisbane, being he is the top seed and he should be able to beat every person in the draw. So Federer fans will be holding their collective breath waiting to see what the next month will bring from our hero.
It has been over a month since I have done a post. With a new season getting ready to kick off in just a couple weeks I figured it was time. Let me be honest - the reason I haven't posted anything for quite a while is because I have been in a bit of a tennis depression the last several months. The combination of Roger Federer having his worst season in over a decade combined with Rafael Nadal winning so much was a huge downer for me. In the past several weeks I couldn't bring myself to watch any of the few good matches I kept on my DVR from 2013 because it was just a reminder of what the season had been like.
But last night suddenly I felt ready and so in the background while I was working I turned on the Federer-Del Potro quarterfinal from Bercy. Watching this match, plus reading some of the recent quotes from Roger, all of a sudden have dragged me mostly out of my funk and have me feeling excited for 2014. In that match against Delpo Roger played much like the guy he used to be, not like the one we were unfortunately getting used to in the last year. He really only had one slight dip with some errors to lose the 2nd set, but other than that he was in control, playing aggressive and with confidence. This is the man we all want to see in Australia to get his season started in the best possible way.
Some quotes from a recent article I thought were encouraging:
"I always believe that I have improved over the last 10 years, you know,
that I've not gone backwards, and I've been able to win (the Open) 10
years ago, so I always feel as I move forward I am a more complete
player, a better player.
''That's why I will always believe that I can win, as long as my body
is holding up and mentally I'm really hungry travelling the world and
playing matches, and that is the case right now - I'm very healthy and
training extremely hard."
''Some success has come back also at the end of last year,
which is quite important for me, for my confidence, because I was really
in a difficult spot from Wimbledon all the way till Basel, I'd say,
with just fighting my confidence and then, particularly, also my back
issue. I couldn't really train the way I wanted to for some time, and
now it's really picked up again and I think I'm really moving in the
right direction.''
And speaking about Australia, ''I really hope to be playing my absolute best (there), which I really
think is possible, and then anything is possible for me, I personally
believe that. It's just important for me that I play better against the
top guys. It's not been bad this year, but I just didn't land enough
wins, so that's something I want to improve for this year.''
Of course, we won't know for sure until we see him on the court again. But hopefully the combination of being injury free and the hard training he has been putting in will bring back the form he had in January before the back issues.
One more thought before I close. One of the things that has made me so annoyed the last few months is when people write articles about his decline without even mentioning the fact that he was injured much of the season. If it had been another unnamed player, that would have been all that would have been talked about. Instead they choose to ignore that fact which has been the biggest contributing factor to his slide. Ok, I got that frustration partially out of my system.
My hope is that we still have at least a couple more years of the strong Federer so many around the world have grown to love over these last many years. He may not win many more majors, but I still think he has a lot left in him and hopefully we will see that at the start of the year to begin to prove his many critics wrong.
