At which point would you say it all started to fall apart for Roger?

Question

J'Adore - Thanks for the answer. His mono I believe is the reason why he has had a poor season all year-long. He has not been the same since.

chuckred21 - Thanks so much for reminding me about the 2007 French Open final. I believe you have a solid point there. I would never forget the look on Roger's face after that lost to Nadal. Remember two weeks earlier, Roger had convincing beaten Nadal in the Hamburg final and I remember there was a lot of hype over their FO match, but Nadal once again blew him off the court. Then a month later Nadal pushed him really hard in that Wimbledon final, where it seemed that Roger would have dominated Nadal easy on the grass courts. Then a month later he loses to Djokovic for the first time.

Answer 1

It started when he had mono beginning of this year. It was an unfit Roger that took part in the Australian Open so him getting to the semifinals is actually pretty good. Roger had to work very hard to get back to fitness. I think Mario Ancic just had a relapse of it and withdrew from US Open.

I think the recent Wimbledon loss also affected him a lot. the tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati were held early this year so he didn't have enough time to rest and recover from that final.

As far as I'm concerned this year's Wimbledon final was same as last year except that Nadal got lucky this year while Federer was lucky last year. Nadal had breakpoints in the final set in 2007 and Roger had it this year. It could have gone either way.

Any doubts about his playing ability should be answered after his doubles victory in the Olympics. He played great without any pressure and expectation on him and he throughly enjoyed it. I don't think he's enjoying his singles matches much and there is always a lot of pressure for him. Once he sorts this out, I'm pretty sure he'll be back.

Answer 2

I really think that Roger's illness at the beginning of this year threw everything off for him. He has never had injury problems, but from what I understand, mono is quite debilitating and apparently it was quite sometime before his condition was properly diagnosed. I'm not sure he ever fully recovered from it.  He probably was playing when he shouldn't have been. I think being physically sub par can affect a player mentally. He just seemed drained both physically and mentally, although in the Olympic doubles final it was like he was a different person.

As for his losses last year to Canas, they did surprise me, but I didn't think much about it because no matter how great a player is, he is going to have some bad losses here and there.

I have seen other champions go through the transition period where the aura of invincibility is no longer there, and they had to adjust to it mentally. But they still win a whole lot more often than they lose. I think Roger is going through that period right now. Also, he always has to defend so many points that there is nowhere to go but down in terms of total points. Of course he is not dominant in the way he once was, but I think he can get his ranking back if he gets re-energized. I'm anxious to see how he performs at the Open and the Masters Cup.

Roger's accomplishments for the past five years have been so incredible that we fans have gotten spoiled. But no one can keep up that kind of pace forever----he's just proving that he is human. When you look at his overall record this year, most players would give their right arm for his "bad year" . It's just that he has set the bar so high for himself.

Answer 3

I think he was doing pretty well in 2007. Winning Wimbledon and winning the US Open, when people predicted he would lose. He was in good form. He also won the Shanghai Masters.

I think things started to wear out for him when he lost to Djokovic in the Australian Open semi-final. He'd won that Slam for a number of years all together, and the sudden lose probably affected his game.

After that he lost every major ATP tournament - Miami, Rogers Masters, Cincinatti, Hamburg. Nadal practically crushed him in the Roland Garros final. That affected his confidence coming into Wimbledon. Although he tried everything to win, he just wasn't good enough.

He's lost the number one position now and also lost to Blake in the Olympic singles. He must be in desperate need of a win right now! The doubles match was awesome, and still shows his fans that he's got it in him.

The US Open will be a big trial for him. He's still an amazing player and he needs to prove he's not out of the game.

Answer 4

This question is way too long to read in detail, here are some random thoughts.

He started losing his edge since Dubai last year, when he struggled against lesser players. This was before Canas beat him twice in a row. But he still had the fear factor going, and a lot of momentum and experience. He won WImbledon and the US open on experience rather than any real virtuousity.

Now he's lost his momentum. He was totally dismanted in the French Open. But losing Wimbledon was like the final nail in the coffin. That was the one thing he was still holding onto with all his life. That is gone, and it seems like anyone can beat him now. The only major title he still has is the US Open. I'd love to see him win, but I'm not holding my breath.

In a nutshell, the real problem started a year and a half ago. The symptoms only just started showing up. Honestly I don't think he works as hard as he used to. I said that a year ago. No doubt I'm going to get 6 thumbs down for saying so.

Answer 5

It all started when Nadal started beating him again and again...

Answer 6

Yes all of these points made him fall back, but I think it was before the Australian Open he had mono, it takes a long time to get recovered from mono, i think he is still recovering.

Answer 7

2008 First Round loss in Dubai. :\

Answer 8

It was when he got mono, thats when he started hitting balls out. Canas was no big deal, Nadal is an amazing player, and he went on to win the US final in straight sets and the Masters series. So it was still fantastic for Roger. Her got mono, pulled out of Kyoong, and that was the end of that. Semis in Aussie, sick again for Dubai, lack of practise for Miami and Indian Wells, pretty fine clay court season, good Wimbledon, back to the hard courts.... rubbish again. That mono has slowed him down where he struggled to keep up with the play on hard courts - they are too fast and the points are too long. Hopefully he will prove me wrong this US Open. I too believe Federer will come back- just maybe not this year.

Just to add- all his struggles were on hard court last year too. Its honestly the hard courts hes struggling with. People arnt as good on clay as he is, bar Nadal, and hes great on grass. I agree with Dr D that I don't think he works as hard either- he doesn't seem to have the same strive to improve. I mean he said he would analyse his game AFTER the US Open- what the h**l is the point in that? Once upon a time he said he analysed his game after every match. When Federer gets over his stubborness he'll get over his hard court struggles. I still think hes great on grass tho and has more Wimbledons left in him yet.

Answer 9

all those are

Answer 10

It's hard to pinpoint WHERE it started to happen, but I'm going to have to go with the AO. When Roger was pushed to play 5 sets and had to struggle to win 10-8 in the 5th against Tipsarevic. That's when I noticed he was looking weak. Then losing to Novak later. He seems to have never recovered from that, even if he did have mono. When he found out he had mono, he should have taken some time off and gotten some rest.

I think he also has too much activities scheduled outside of tennis, what with the fashion shows, exhibitions around the world, magazine photo shoots. I'm not criticizing those, but I think he needs to devote his time to tennis. His experience alone cannot save him now. He needs to train harder, find a real coach who tells it like it is, practice with younger players, and get back down to the basics.

He's got the game to get back on track. I really hope he does too, for the sake of tennis.    

Answer 11

i cant tell when i thought it roger is falling , but when he lost Wimbledon final i knew his time is up

Answer 12

all these points did it!

step by step he started to fall back

but he'll always be the best player I've ever seen!

Answer 13

Maybe it was when he won his Olympic gold medal...

Answer 14

ill tell you after he wins the us open

Answer 15

well, you picked a lot of points in the last couple of years, but i would have to say when he lost to Rafa in the 2007 French open final.

During the clay court season prior to Roland Garros, Rog was confident that he could beat Nadal at the french open, and confident that he was in better shape than Nadal. he made a terrific run there and won a set from nadal in the final, but lost unfortunately. And the look on his face when he lost just seem of such disbelief and disappointment. And also being pushed so far in Wimbey that year too by rafa.

Now I wouldn't quite say that it was Rog that was falling apart on his own, cause a lot of it was from the mononucleosis prior to the 2008 aussie open. But it was caused from his reign of tennis for so long, and over the last couple of years he was making so many people elevate their own play to keep up with him (mainly Rafa), and Rafa was the guy to do it. So looking back on it, Roger really help the game by dominating it for so long. I hope you understand my reasoning.