2010 U.S. Open: Roger Federer; moderately lucky not to have made it through
The 11th of September 2010 was indeed a dark day in the world of tennis. It almost seemed as though nature had plotted with the championship, as a heavy down pour followed the defeat of a fallen legend. Serbia’s Novak Djokovic flabbergasted the
globe by defeating the Swiss maestro, Roger Federer, in the semi-finals of the 2010 U.S. Open tournament.
Just as the match started off, Roger instantly exercised his authority by taking the first set seven games to five. In response to which, Djokovic thrashed Federer 6-1 in the second set of the semi-final match played between the two. Advancing further, similar
to his first set win, Roger came back to clinch the third set seven games to five.
After which, it was unfortunately all downhill for Federer, as Nole took the remaining two sets six games to two and seven games to five. Nevertheless, as heart-wrenching as it was to witness Federer descend, the professional’s semi-final loss could potentially
go in his favor.
As they say, pessimism gets you nowhere. Taking the statement into consideration, let’s look for the positivity in Federer’s loss, shall we. Hypothetically, had the Swiss man defeated Djokovic in the semi-finals, he would have been made to oppose Rafael
Nadal in the final of the 2010 U.S. Open championship.
Taking into account the fact that Nadal is presently ranked no. 1 in the World apart from the fact that the professional was also seeded no. 1 in the tournament and not to forget, his current indestructible form, there’s a fair chance the Spaniard would
have annihilated the Swiss man, had they faced each other in the final.
Roger Federer currently has sixteen grand slam singles titles to his name, apart from achieving a career grand slam amongst a number of other accomplishments. The sportsman is known for all the right reasons - well, mostly anyway.
Apart from being acknowledged for making history in the sport, Federer is also popularly known for being extremely sentimental. The Swiss man has proved incapable of controlling his feelings and usually gets the ‘water works’ going regardless of winning
or losing.
It is however; mostly at championship finals that Federer lets his emotions take a toll on him. Under usual circumstances, it is either the elation of a win that causes Roger’s tears to jerk or in contrast, a loss to his on-court rival, Rafael Nadal that
triggers the professional’s feelings.
With a career grand slam, a record 16 grand slam titles, an Olympic gold medal, a few ATP titles here and there and after having beaten Pete Sampras’ record, Federer has successfully achieved all he’s ever wanted in terms of his career. However, the Swiss
man still feels that he’s lacking something.
Federer is now bent upon bagging at least twenty grand slam titles before retirement. As communicated to BBC, in the words of the professional himself, “I believe that winning twenty grand slam titles is a realistic aim for me.”
Even though Federer’s dream was temporarily crushed by Djokovic, as he was made to face defeat at the hands of the Serb in the semi-finals of the U.S. Open, it was more of a favor from Nole to Roger. Nonetheless, as humble as Nadal is career wise, Federer
is the complete opposite.
Presently ranked no. 1 in the World, in the year 2010, Rafael Nadal clinched the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open championship. Had Federer opposed Nadal in the final of the 2010 U.S. Open and lost to him, knowing what an emotional sportsman he is,
it would have had a major affect on him.
In case of which, Federer’s chances of acquiring twenty grand slam singles titles would have then been, thin. Nevertheless, the professional now has an opportunity to come back bigger and better. The Swiss man undoubtedly has limitless potential and if he
manages to keep his emotions out of the way, 2011 could most definitely be the year Roger takes tennis to a whole new level.
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