Federer Slides Down Rankings
If ever there was a time for Roger Federer to buck up his tennis ideas then it's right now after he dropped to number three in the world rankings.
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are the two players who remain in front of him and this news underlines a bad patch of form for the greatest player to have ever bothered picking up a racket.
Federer started the season very well by winning the Australian Open and many said that he would go on and dominate this season in the same way that he has done in past seasons.
However, he badly underperformed at the French Open and then at Wimbledon, which has seen his global position in the game slip. He now has to make quick and drastic improvements if he wants to start closing the gap on Nadal who is currently pulling away from the field.
Form
The reason for Federer's drop in the world rankings is his drop in form. Every great player always has a dip in form at some point during their career and it seems that the Swiss is going through one of these patches right now.
A way that he could get back up the rankings is to do very well at the US Open but this looks like a very uphill task as Nadal is looking to win his first title in America and there are a number of other players who could challenge.
The dip in form is not likely to bother Federer who has experienced this sort of thing before. It is difficult to find challenges and reasons to try and get better in the game for someone who has won so many titles.
However, the Swiss now has one of these reasons and he has to work very hard over the rest of the summer to get into better physical shape. He looked a little off the pace at Wimbledon and he has to be right on top of his game when he goes to America to have any chance of winning.
One of the Greats
Federer is one of the greats of tennis and these greats always pull something out of the bag when everyone points the finger and starts to question them. Now is one of those times and Federer has the technique and experience to automatically do well in another tournament.
He can raise his levels of performance to emphatically win when he plays in any warm up event before the US Open and this will also help his world ranking. The majority of players creep uo the world rankings because they do well in ATP tour events, which have a lot of ranking points attached to them.
Federer will know exactly where he needs to improve and he will tackle these areas head on. He has too much experience and quality to let this recent dip in form get the better of him and extend through the US Open and into next season.
Federer is always worth a bet regardless of the competition that he is playing in and the form he possesses. He is just as capable of winning the US Open as anyone else and it's important for any betting customer to remember this.
However, his performances in Paris and London would have put many potential backers on the back foot. Therefore, there is no harm in staying a little cautious and waiting to see how he plays in warm up events and the first few matches of the US Open itself to see how he reacts to recent disappointments.
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