Has age finally caught up with Roger Federer?

For Roger Federer, saying that age is just a number is quite an understatement. For the majority of this decade the Swiss maestro has defied age, injury concerns and painful defeats to carry on and on, setting an example not only for sports fanatics but also for ordinary masses seeking inspiration.

In 2016, when Federer cut short his season after his surprise defeat to Milos Raonic in the Wimbledon semifinal, the end seemed near. The fact that the then 17-time Grand Slam champion had not won a Major since Wimbledon 2012 coupled with his inability to win even a single title on the tour in 2016 had raised a lot of eyebrows and concerns.

However, buoyed by his unadulterated passion for the game and his indefatigable mental toughness, Federer staged a staggering comeback in 2017. His win at the Australian Open, where he defeated his arch-nemesis Rafael Nadal in the final, was like the second coming of the legend.

2017 Australian Open - Rafael Nadal (L) and Roger Federer

Federer's miraculous win at the Australian Open acted like a soothing balm for his defeats, ironing out the wrinkles of agony and exhaustion. Federer’s revival gained steam as he went on to win the Sunshine Double, capturing the titles at Indian Wells and Miami. He then won Wimbledon for a record 8th time in his career, before adding another Masters 1000 title at Shanghai.

Federer accumulated as many as seven titles in 2017 to complete a scintillating comeback.

2018 started in similar vein, as he won the Australian Open to start the year. However, things haven't been quite as rosy since then, and the year 2019 has given us the impression that the Swiss maestro is finally running out of gas.

Federer has witnessed many setbacks so far this year and at 38, it won’t be easy to deal with and overcome the losses. The defeat in the 2019 Wimbledon final, where Federer failed to close out the match against Novak Djokovic despite having two match points, seems to be haunting the 20-time Grand Slam champion.

Roger Federer suffered a painful defeat against Djokovic in the Wimbledon 2019 final

At the Cincinnati Masters, Federer succumbed to a straight-sets defeat at the hands of Next Gen star Andrey Rublev. And at the US Open that followed, the Swiss maestro was sent packing by Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinal despite having been two sets to one up.

Federer stepped out on the court at the recently concluded Shanghai Masters 1000, in a bid to resurrect his season. After getting past Albert Ramos Vinolas and David Goffin in the earlier rounds, Federer met the young German Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinal - and that was to prove his doom.

Federer lost the first set 3-6, and faced three match points on Zverev’s serve in the second. But the Swiss maestro wasn’t willing to throw in the towel yet; when everything seemed lost and Federer stood on the doorstep of yet another painful defeat, he produced some breathtaking vintage tennis to keep the young German at bay.

Demonstrating tremendous resilience, Federer broke Zverev back to force a tie-break. In the tie-breaker too Federer saved two match points before finally snatching the set from Zverev. But the Swiss maestro ran out of steam in the third set to eventually bow out against the Next Gen superstar.

The question has to be asked now: how long will Federer continue? While these losses at 38 won’t hurt him as much as they used to say 10 years ago, he will find it harder and harder to overcome them with each passing day.

Has age finally caught up with Federer? Or does he still have enough in him to overcome this extended slump in form and once again rise to the top?

Federer has expressed his intention to compete at the Tokyo Olympics and the French Open next year. It will be interesting to see how Federer goes about his business in the remainder of this season and the start of the next.