Is Roger Federer still a contender for Grand Slams starting from this year's US open?

Roger Federer

“Don’t ask me to be quiet. When I want to talk I will talk. I don’t give a c*** to what you say”. This was how Roger Federer, who was not known for displaying his emotions on the court, aired out his anger on the chair umpire when the latter was permitting Del Potro to call for challenges related to line calls in the final of US open 2009 with unconceivable delays.

Failing to deal with the temper, he went on to lose the match in the final set, thereby relinquishing his hold on what would have been an unprecedented sixth consecutive US Open title for him in the open era.

Since then, the Swiss Maestro could not even reach a final at Flushing Meadows, forget about winning it. The place, where he was enjoying his honeymoon for five years since 2004, chose to disown him, following his defeat at the hands of the Argentine in 2009 final.

This was in fact the surface where he could do no wrong till five years ago. So much so, his tweener, which went past Novak Djokovic during the 2009 semifinal on this very surface, is still rated as the best ever shot played by him in his entire career till date.

The prestidigitation in handling the racquets which he is known for seemed to have eluded him for a while and it was not just once – but twice in the last three years – he lost after holding match points in the semifinals.

Last year, the whole world was witness to an abject surrender by the former world No.1 to his newly found nemesis in Tomas Berdych in the quarter final stage itself of the “Glamour Slam.” That leaves us with the next question – considering his performances over there in the last three years, will he ever be able to win another Grand Slam at the Arthur Ashe stadium?

The way he has been performing since the start of this season leaves us with a very little hope for risking our money on him to win the big tournaments. You cannot expect Federer, who would be 32 by the time US open gets underway, to reproduce his lost form of 2008 when he beat Andy Murray in straight sets to win his fifth title there.

Does that mean we should stop counting him as a contender when the year’s final Grand Slam starts next month? Are we looking at the twilight of his career already? Frankly speaking, this is proving to be the worst year for the Swiss in the last decade. Already we have seen a few eyebrows getting raised over what lies ahead for him in the near future, particularly after his shocking second round exit three weeks ago in Wimbledon.

Counting Federer off is not something which is advisable. Though it is agreeable to an extent that he is playing much below par this year. But it also needs to be understood that his magic has not eluded him totally. Every now and then, he has overwhelmed us with his effortless acumen, fetching for himself some mind blowing points, which we do not get to see often from anyone else’s racquet.

Federer

Who else but the great man himself would know it better as to how to bring his acts together. Unfortunately, this year has been quite uncompromising and unforgiving for the great legend. Just as we were thinking that his failure against a person ranked outside 100 in the second round of Wimbledon was a minor blip, he has lost to Fredrico Delbonis , a qualifier from Argentina in the semifinal of Hamburg ATP yesterday.

This is more than a vivid indication in all fairness which palpably states that his career has hit an all time low.

Under these circumstances, it is natural for anyone to doubt if the great Swiss would still be a contender for winning Grand Slams. If one looks deep into the maestro’s career, he would understand that it is too early for the panic button to be pressed. The mighty King of tennis has dominated the game like no one has ever done.

From the year 2004 up until 2007, he won 11 of the 16 Grand Slams played, winning multiple majors each year. When it did look as though he would end the year 2008 without any Grand Slams, he found his form at the right moment after defeating Igor Andreev in the fourth round of US open in a hard fought five setter. He made sure that he finished the season well by winning the title at Flushing Meadows.

Again in the following year, he produced some exceptional tennis to capture two Grand Slam titles including the one at Roland Garros. No one ever thought that he would be winning the French Open that year but he again did make it happen. In the last decade, barring the years 2010 and 2011, which were ruled by Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic respectively, rest of the seasons belonged to him.

It is only appropriate to say that even last year belonged to the Swiss though the Grand Slam titles were equally divided among the “big four” simply because he won what it matters the most for all professionals – The Wimbledon. So, with only half the year over and a Grand Slam yet to be played, it is not correct on anyone’s part to discount Roger, who is the all time leader in Grand Slam title count. And why would one be?

He may be fast approaching 32 and might have lost to the players to whom he should not be losing against and yet his quest to add more titles seems to remain undiminished.

Once he experienced a shock exit from Wimbledon, he understood that it was time to assess where his game stood. So, he made a surprise announcement that he would be playing in Hamburg and Gstaad which were not in his schedule released last year.

Also, he has opted for using a bigger racquet with a larger square inch head just to generate more power.

So, it is very much obvious now that he is man with a mission. He wants to experiment something which is a good sign. If this new racquet works and helps as he grows older then he may still win a couple of Slams.

Even otherwise, the fifth-ranked player in the world is too good to be deprived of any Grand Slams. Who knows, with some of his main rivals like Djokovic and Nadal also seems to be struggling at times, the Swiss artist may finally get to capture his sixth US open this year.