So after six years it has finally happened, someone has caught up to Roger Federer on grass. Rafael Nadal’s epic win brings to an end one of Tennis history’s great episodes – Federer’s five in a row at Wimbledon and six years without being defeated on grass.
Furthermore, it means three of the year’s four Grand Slams are down without the world number one having added to his tally of twelve. At the beginning of this year we might have expected Federer to have at least equalled Pete Sampras’ record of fourteen by now, but instead there has been no change in the status.
Not that one semi and two finals is a bad effort. It’s just a little less than we’ve come to expect.
Of course there will be the inevitable media talk now claiming Federer’s reign is over. There is some credibility in that argument and it is certainly the case that Nadal, having just won the French and Wimbledon back to back, must be considered the best in the world at the moment.
But on the other side of the coin, Federer is still only twenty six, and the law of averages says that he would eventually slip up. No number one in the men’s game has had a run like he has over the last five years. To maintain it would be super human.
So where does he go from here? Well, eating a small but well baked piece of humble pie would be a good start.
I don’t mean because of the view that a few hold that Federer is arrogant in his demeanour in interviews and the like. I think that’s rubbish. But if there has been any arrogance about Federer it is in the fact that he hasn’t felt he needs to do more in order to fend off those snapping at his heels, namely Nadal and Djokovic.
I think he needs to get a coach again, and here’s why. He is twenty six and still burns with desire. He has all the ability that is required to win more grand slams. But tactically Federer has been badly exposed this year.
He seems to have an informal relationship with Jose Higueras but that is not going to do. It is tentative and non committal, like Federer’s game is at times becoming. He needs to decide who the right coach is and then get to work.
Last night he seemed to be adopting a suck it and see approach to his game plan. He tried a bit if this and that, eventually realising that his best chance was to play from the net. Even then he too easily fell into the trap of slugging it out from the baseline with Nadal. Anyone would know that’s not a good move.
Two things surprise me. First is that the King of Grass didn’t have the confidence to back himself in attacking Nadal. Sure, Nadal’s ground strokes are awesome but it’s important that Federer doesn’t allow himself to be intimidated by them. He could have applied the slice backhand approach to better use for a start.
The second is that Federer didn’t have a well thought out gameplan that he could come out and execute from the word go. He has had twelve months to think about it. It was always going to be a likely final against Nadal and Nadal was always going to be better than last year. No one else even troubled him on the way to the final.
All the other top players, Nadal and Djokovic in particular, devote time and effort to working out how they can beat Federer specifically. He is the big target. It’s time for Federer to reciprocate. He must face the fact that they have caught him and it is not good enough to go out there and simply try to beat them on ability alone. He must target their games and discover their weaknesses.
He heads to the U.S. Open now, a hardcourt surface where Djokovic will be extremely dangerous. What is his gameplan? He will be looking for five titles in a row here and to restore his dignity. But at this stage he could desperately do with having another brain to work with. Someone with a new perspective. But who is the person who can coach the world’s number one player back to being the world’s best player?
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