Legendary Roger Federer feels he can reclaim World Number 1 ranking
American former pro Pete Sampras once said, “Every year with a Grand Slam title is a great year”. Following this maxim, the World Number 2 Roger Federer has already had a great run in 2010.
He began the year by winning his 16th Majors title at the Australian Open in January, defeating Scottish tennis pro Andy Murray in the final. He has won two more Grand Slam titles than Sampras, who held the previous record. Federer looked backed
on his January run, saying, “In Melbourne, I played some of the best tennis of my life”.
However, the Swiss player was held back from the ATP Dubai event due to a lung infection in February, and his year went downhill for a while. He was unable to defend his titles at Roland Garros and the All-England club, losing the French Open quarter-finals
to Swede Robin Soderling and the Wimbledon quarter-finals to Czech Number 1 Tomas Berdych. This is the first time that he missed the Grand Slam final in England since 2002.
His Roland Garros defeat was the end of an astonishing era for the player, and for tennis history. The Maestro had reached, at the very least, the semi-finals of the last 23 Grand Slam tournaments, which he played. He also lost the World Number 1 spot to
Spaniard Rafael Nadal, and missed the opportunity to beat Sampras’s record of 286 weeks at Number 1 by one week.
He said, regarding Rafa’s ascension to the top spot, “Rafa fully deserves to be No. 1, since he won the last three major tournaments. But I know if I am playing well, there is no question that I am able to challenge him and get a chance to return to the
top spot”.
This August, Federer took away the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati for the fourth time, leading him to his 17th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title. This brings him to the same record as Andre Agassi, and only one title
behind Rafael Nadal.
However, he lost the next three important US tournaments. He gave up Indian Wells and Miami to Marcos Baghdatis and Berdych, while Novak “Nole” Djokovic defeated him in a nerve-racking US Open semi-final.
However, Federer still has a lot to proud of in the 12th full season that he has played on the ATP World Tour. He has found a highly experienced coach, Paul Annacone, who coached Pete Sampras and is a former pro himself. His game is noticeably
better, and despite being coach-less for many years he now depends on Annacone and his Swiss comrade, Severin Luthi.
Federer took a break after the US Open, staying out of tournaments for four weeks to recover in Dubai. He spent the month with his wife, former WTA pro Mirka, and his twin daughters Charlene Riva and Myla Rose. The rest was a busy one for the player, who
laughed when he said his daughters had him running in all directions, “I always try to guess where they are going, but every time I am wrong”.
He returned to the ATP tour in Shanghai, fresh and ready to play the best tennis he had played all year round. He defeated Novak Djokovic as payback for the US Open loss at China, and reached the final to lose to Andy Murray.
One week later, he covered new ground with his 900th ATP match at the Stockholm Open, which he won. He also made it to Pete Sampras’s record of 64 titles, a mark which he surpassed next week with his 65th title at his hometown event
at the Swiss Indoors Basel. Only Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe have won more tournaments in the Open Era.
The player is satisfied with his performance, saying, “Compared to my best years, 2010 was not that great. It could have been better, but it could have been much worse. All except one player would be happy to get these results”.
He also added, “I am very optimistic that I can end the season on a high note”. He seems to be meeting up to these expectations, the Maestro is one of the last four at the prestigious Barclay’s ATP World Tour Finals this year, and has won all three of his
round robin matches against the World’s top eight players.
Tags: