Roger Federer smashes racquet into net in anger in Swiss Indoors final

What’s the story?

Roger Federer is generally not a man who loses his cool too easily. However, playing under a lot of pressure in front of a home crowd is something that could get to even the best of the players.

The 19-time Grand Slam champion showed just a glimpse of his angry side when he was a set down, against Juan Martin Del Potro, in the final of the Swiss Indoors, as he smashed his racquet into the net, after missing a winner.

In case you didn’t know…

Federer, who had made it to the final of the Swiss Indoors, managed to defeat Del Potro 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the tournament. However, that was not before the Swiss tennis ace had to work hard to earn the points against his Argentine opponent.

In the end however, the champion player managed to turn things around to win the tournament on his home turf.

Heart of the matter

With the first set having gone down to the wire, before Del Potro clinched it, the onus was on Federer to win the second set. Federer had managed to work his way into a break point in the second set, at 40-30. After that, he even managed to set himself up for the winner, but then went on to miss it with a simple (for his lofty standards).

This mistake triggered something that perhaps many tennis fans have hardly seen before. In a fit of anger, Federer smashed his racquet into the net.

Federer smashes his racquet into the net

This took everyone by surprise. A surprised Sky Sports commentator Mark Petchey said, "This is a rare occasion. Federer has just thrown his arm away - but you know he will dig deep."

Federer's momentary burst of anger took everyone by surprise

What’s next?

With this win in his bag, Federer is now looking forward to a bit of rest, as he announced that he will be pulling our out of the Paris Masters. Instead, the 36-year-oldwill not look to get prepared for the World Tour Finals, in London, which gets underway in November.

Author’s take:

Federer has performed at his highest level for a long, long time. However, at the age of 36, it may be more of a question of whether his body is getting the better of him. The fact that he was under pressure to perform in front of his home crowd may have caused this outburst, but that just goes on to show that we are all human. As for his decision to prioritise tournaments, we must realize that he probably needs a little more rest at this age, in order to keep playing tennis for longer.