Roger Federer's straight sets US Open loss casts doubt on his career
“I
kind of self-destructed, which is very disappointing, especially on a quicker court," says former world number one
Getty Images
Roger Federer took a humbling step closer to the end of his glorious career with a straight sets thrashing at the US Open.
And now the winner of 17 Grand Slams is struggling to qualify for the year-ending Barclays ATP World Tour finals at The O2 in November.
The Swiss superstar, 32, suffered a shock second round loss at Wimbledon to Sergiy Stakhovsky. And Federer ended his worst Grand Slam season since 2002 by losing to Spain’s Tommy Robredo in the fourth round in New York. Federer, who made 43 unforced errors, had beaten the No 19 seed on their previous 10 meetings. He took two out of 16 break points.
“I kind of feel like I beat myself, without taking any credit away from Tommy,” said Federer. “Clearly he was making sure he was making many balls. It was up to me to make the difference and I couldn’t.
“I kind of self-destructed, which is very disappointing, especially on a quicker court. Your serve helps you out. You’re going to make the difference somewhere. I just couldn’t do it.
“I struggled throughout, which is not very satisfying, to be honest. It was a frustrating performance.”
Very soon Federer will face the toughest decision for all great sporting legends: when to finally walk away. Bookmakers were yesterday offering odds of 6/4 that the 2012 Wimbledon champion will retire next year.
The world No 7 once won five consecutive Wimbledon titles during a remarkable run of reaching 23 consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals. At the French Open, he reached his 36th straight quarter-final. But 2013 is the first time since 2002 he has failed to reach a Major final while only winning one ATP title. And while experimenting with a new racquet and struggling with a bad back, Federer has started to lose to journeyman he dismissed in his prime. Robredo was nearly taken to five sets by Dan Evans in the third round.
After losing 7-6, 6-3, 6-4, the dejected five-time US Open winner admitted: “Confidence does all these things. It takes care of all the things you don’t usually think about. But I just think it’s been a difficult last three months.
“I’ve definitely got to go back to work and come back stronger, get rid of this loss now as quick as I can because that’s not how I want to play from here on.”
Robredo will now face his fellow Spaniard Rafa Nadal in the quarter-finals - and Nadal and Federer look destined never to play at Flushing Meadows.
Andy Murray has been named in the GB squad to play the Davis Cup qualifier in Croatia later this month. The Wimbledon champion has not played for his country for two years.
And now the winner of 17 Grand Slams is struggling to qualify for the year-ending Barclays ATP World Tour finals at The O2 in November.
The Swiss superstar, 32, suffered a shock second round loss at Wimbledon to Sergiy Stakhovsky. And Federer ended his worst Grand Slam season since 2002 by losing to Spain’s Tommy Robredo in the fourth round in New York. Federer, who made 43 unforced errors, had beaten the No 19 seed on their previous 10 meetings. He took two out of 16 break points.
“I kind of feel like I beat myself, without taking any credit away from Tommy,” said Federer. “Clearly he was making sure he was making many balls. It was up to me to make the difference and I couldn’t.
“I kind of self-destructed, which is very disappointing, especially on a quicker court. Your serve helps you out. You’re going to make the difference somewhere. I just couldn’t do it.
“I struggled throughout, which is not very satisfying, to be honest. It was a frustrating performance.”
Very soon Federer will face the toughest decision for all great sporting legends: when to finally walk away. Bookmakers were yesterday offering odds of 6/4 that the 2012 Wimbledon champion will retire next year.
The world No 7 once won five consecutive Wimbledon titles during a remarkable run of reaching 23 consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals. At the French Open, he reached his 36th straight quarter-final. But 2013 is the first time since 2002 he has failed to reach a Major final while only winning one ATP title. And while experimenting with a new racquet and struggling with a bad back, Federer has started to lose to journeyman he dismissed in his prime. Robredo was nearly taken to five sets by Dan Evans in the third round.
After losing 7-6, 6-3, 6-4, the dejected five-time US Open winner admitted: “Confidence does all these things. It takes care of all the things you don’t usually think about. But I just think it’s been a difficult last three months.
“I’ve definitely got to go back to work and come back stronger, get rid of this loss now as quick as I can because that’s not how I want to play from here on.”
Robredo will now face his fellow Spaniard Rafa Nadal in the quarter-finals - and Nadal and Federer look destined never to play at Flushing Meadows.
Andy Murray has been named in the GB squad to play the Davis Cup qualifier in Croatia later this month. The Wimbledon champion has not played for his country for two years.
No comments:
Post a Comment