2013 Has Not Been a Great Season
Roger Federer has posted a Grand Slam semifinal and quarterfinal finish, along with a runner-up finish in Rome and decent showings in Dubai and Indian Wells. That may add up to a top 10 level of play (especially given that Federer is 9-2 in majors in 2013), but Federer’s standard since 2003 has been higher than what has been seen in the 2013 season.
Rewind One Year
Roger had some down moments in 2012 at this point. Nadal beat him at the Australian Open for a second hardcourt slam loss to Rafa. Djokovic dominated Roger in the first and third sets of their French Open semifinal. Even worse, Roger lost the second set of that match despite breaking Djokovic’s serve three times! After that match, I felt like Federer would never beat an in-form Djokovic again.
Federer followed that clay court season with a runner-up finish at Halle, a seventh Wimbledon title, and a silver medal at the London Olympic games. Federer beat Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray to win Wimbledon last year. Federer also beat Djokovic at Cincinnati. Yes, Federer lost in the final 8 at the US Open, lost in the final at Basel and lost in the final at the World Tour Finals. Still, I think Federer is in roughly the same spot he was in one year ago. He can do good things on faster surfaces while his clay court game has slipped. Federer is not the player he was from 2004-2007 or 2009, but he’s not done until he loses his desire to practice and train. A draw can open up and Federer can win an event. Federer can zone in for an event and win even against a tough draw. He is not going to win 90% of his matches unless he joins Jim Courier’s Champion’s Tour (99-100% of his matches in that case). Still, losing to Tsonga is no worse than where Federer was after looking totally ineffectual versus Djokovic last year. One month later, Federer was ranked #1 in the world and holding the Wimbledon trophy. I think Federer and Annacone are confident that big prizes can still be had.
* Greg Garber’s latest obituary for Federer’s career prompted this column
Tennis Abides: Dan Martin on Tennis and Life 
Just back from vacation and catching up–congrats on the baby, brother!
No disrespect to Tsonga, but the Roger Federer on the court yesterday was barely a Top 20 player. He was very gracious in his post-match comments and didn’t seem to blame injury or illness, but I have to hope that this was the case, because if that was his tennis straight up, no matter the surface, then it is a sad day indeed for us fans of the beautiful and unique brand of tennis that he’s produced for the past decade.
Still, I’m crossing my fingers that you’re right and that he has another run of excellence in him!