After Roland Garros 2012
Following sportsmen makes you think you are an expert in the
sport. You neglect a lot of factors and all you care about is to see your favorite
one winning. I have been a huge fan of
Roger Federer. Everything he does on a tennis court and off the court seems to
be a part of my life as well. So just sharing a part of what goes in my mind
when a big tournament (Roland Garros) ends in a disappointment and another big
one (Wimbledon) is just around the corner.
It’s difficult to feel satisfied with a semifinal place in
Grand Slam from Roger as we are used to see such brand of tennis which has made
him sit at top of Grand Slams numbers. And with Rafa just winning the French also
puts a worry in head that how can this guy be stopped on Clay. He may take 3-4
more here and will be sitting pretty at 13-14 Grand slams at neck with Federer
16 (if he doesn’t win more), and there are other which he has/can won.
It’s not like I hate Nadal, I respect him as a tennis pro, but
I never respected his game, with Federer’s grace and calm on one side it’s
impossible to like Nadal’s or even Djokovic’s power hitting game. It feels like
they are machines operating on a tennis court with human emotions. Kudos to their
training programs and trainers that they can stand full year but I’m sure they
won’t be around till there 30’s as Roger is and at a high on Men’s tour. They
may be there but they will be overpowered as they will have less power in their
shoulders. I don’t know if they will be able to change their game styles too
much to defy their age.
Coming to Roger’s game. Roland Garros was not a disaster in
terms of where he reached eventually. Yes he lost ranking points as he was
finalist last year, but as he mentioned a semifinal in a Grand slam is a big
thing. Obviously he had to stay focused and optimistic ahead of Wimbledon so
that is his way of thinking. What was worrying is the way he scrapped through
last 4. The way he was taken to 4 sets in r2, 3, 4 was not convincing, and
against the players hardly anybody knows. Yes they played well but Roger was
off color. His serve has been a weapon whenever he has went to win big trophies,
who can forget how he shut down Novak at the same stage last year with Ace down
the T and get that finger up.
His serve was completely misfiring, the numbers don’t look
horrible but I have not seen Federer serve so badly ever. Not when I have seen
him play. On grass he will need his weapon dearly, don’t know what the reason
was but he needs it back. The semifinal was a strange match, he was going for
all the shots, credit to Novak I think, he forced so many errors. But the best
shot of the tournament was hit by Federer at 1 set down 0-0, 30-40… That 37 shot
rally was one of the best I see on clay. Players should know tweener is Roger’s
property. Semifinal was lost in a hurry and nobody knew how quickly it
happened. He was thrice up in set 2 and gave away the break. Impossible.. In
quarterfinals it was great to see him coming back from 2 sets down and I say
Del P was playing brilliantly and Roger responded like a Champ with help from
his opponents’ knee. But in Semis the fire was gone. He looked like a man who
wants to win but only in patches. His mighty forehand was wayward. And it ended
as a very bad day for his fans.
Don’t know what happened to his serve, or forehand, is
Djokovic entering in his head too or he is not just quite there up to level of
top 2. These are difficult questions to answer and I think only he can answer
these. Whatever happened at Paris is over. Wimbledon starts in 2 weeks, he
plays in Halle this week and he has already opened his Street. Some smiles are
already restored. He touched grass win few matches, hit some serve and volleys
and we will cheer him with all we got. Don’t know how he will perform in
Wimbledon, but wish he can also win 7 just like Rafa did in Paris. Whatever
happens, whatever number Nadal/Djokovic end up with, Roger will always be our
No.1.
