U.S. Open 2011: Can Roger Federer Get Back on the Winning Track?

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at Internationaled.org

Published: July 14, 2011

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Roger Federer enters the 2011 U.S. Open amidst constant speculation about the end of his career, about how he's still good but perhaps not good enough anymore.

A tennis player's twilight is unlike any other athlete's. In team sports, an aging athlete can still rely on his smarts or hide on the field just to coast towards one final paycheck. Think a 39-year-old LeBron James in the 2011 NBA Finals.

In tennis there is no hiding and there is no coasting. There are no contracts; the athletes make their living on results. If a tennis player doesn't truly believe he can win anymore, he'll stop playing. If Derek Jeter doesn't believe he can hit .300 anymore, he'll subject the New York Yankees fans to two or three more seasons of .260 hitting and horrid defense.

Roger Federer hasn't won a Grand Slam title since the 2010 Australian Open. He's reached just one final since then at the 2011 French Open, where he unsurprisingly fell to Rafael Nadal.

As I live blogged Federer's five-set loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at Wimbledon, commenters theorized about the end of Federer's career. One such commenter said that (sic) "Its time for Federer to walk into the sunset...As a fan of his high quality tennis...I can not bear to see him loose such way , Its impossible for him to win with such power tennis players playing so well."

In what world is Roger Federer's current tennis not "high quality?" One could argue that Federer is still playing at a level that maybe only five other men ever have touched, and two of those five happen to be active and in their primes.

Consider the circumstances under which Federer lost at his last four majors:

At the 2010 U.S. Open, Federer fell in a long five-setter to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Federer was then blown out by Djokovic at the 2011 Australian Open, but I believe that was an aberration given Federer's masterful play against Djokovic at the 2011 French.

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Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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