Lets see what happened to Fedex since the time he lost to Nadal at Wimbledon in 2008. That marathon match was considered the best ever Wimbledon match. And while it demoralised Fed, it boosted Nadal and he won Olympic Gold and Fedex was forced to vacate the top spot. As expected everyone started plotting the demise of the greatest champion of Tennis.What happened next? He won the US Open and again the whole world came n support of him. And the next year proved to be one of the best. First French Open and 15 Grand Slam titles. Back as World No 1. and lost very narrowly in the Finals of the Us Open. FEDEX was officially back and was expected to be at his best forever. Add to that this years Australian Open and his status as the greatest player of all time was almost sealed.
But in all these was forgotten that the exploits of Roger in the last 2 years did not come at the expense of Nadal but at his absence. He still had a losing record to Nadal and he has not beaten Nadal in a Slam final after Wimbledon 2007. So when Nadal was back at his imperious best, people expected Roger to have a better answer. But still he didnt. He lost to Nadal again in the Madrid Masters.
Another new aspect of Fedex this year has been his rare immodesty. Its becoming too apparent these days. Though he failed to reach the semifinal of a Grand Slam at the French Open this year , he looked so confident of his grass court chances. He promptly lost in the finals of his warm up event. Now comes his Wimbledon defeat.
What next? One of several things may happen. One, he may be back again this hard court season with a few titles and the Us Open and again will be expected to be at his best. Two, if he loses again in the US open before the Semis then the final days have started. Here one of two things may happen, like an Agassi or Schumacher, his last days wont be his best and he ll retire as a player ranked around 7 or 8 in the world . Otherwise, this is what I expect the most, he may have a last flourish left in him and may win Yet another Grand Slam and then retire. You see, I am a fan of Pete Sampras.
Roger Federer needs a great farewell, of a kind no sport has heard of. Bettter than Schumacher, Bradman Michael Jordon or any others. . Doesn't he?
But there is another curly haired guy from India who has reserved the Greatest Farewell of all time. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
