“I don’t believe what I’m seeing,” said John McEnroe, as Roger Federer sprayed another forehand six feet past the baseline en route to a straight-set loss at the U.S. Open to No. 19 seed Tommy Robredo and another early exit from a Grand Slam.
Neither could anyone else, except, perhaps, Roger Federer, who seemed oddly resigned to his fate early in the stunning defeat.
Even as his one-time invincibility waned and he went through his streak of Slam-less years, and even during his summer woes that were capped by a stunning loss to No. 116 Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round of Wimbledon, there was always the feeling that even if Roger Federer was down in a match, his comeback was inevitable. He’d summon whatever it was that made him the sport’s all-time leader in Grand Slams and pull it out in the end.
When Federer went down two sets to Robredo on Monday night in New York, that feeling wasn’t there. It didn’t mean Federer couldn’t come back to win the match, the same way he didn’t always win those previous matches when you figured he’d comeback. But this time, there was a different inevitability all together. It was the inevitability of aging and decline.
Federer’s forehands sailed long. His footwork looked like that of someone wearing cinder blocks in the bottom of the Hudson. Every volley seemed to hit the middle of the net. He looked tense on every break point — he’d finish 2 for 16 and blew three games in which he held a 0-40 lead. This wasn’t the Roger Federer of old, nor the Roger Federer of the recent past. This was a one-time great struggling with the most basic of fundamentals and losing to a fellow tennis old-timer (Robredo is 31) that he’d owned throughout his career.
Font: usatoday
terça-feira, 3 de setembro de 2013
“I don’t believe what I’m seeing,” said John McEnroe, as Roger Federer sprayed another forehand six feet past the baseline en route to a straight-set loss at the U.S. Open to No. 19 seed Tommy Robredo and another early exit from a Grand Slam.
Neither could anyone else, except, perhaps, Roger Federer, who seemed oddly resigned to his fate early in the stunning defeat.
Even as his one-time invincibility waned and he went through his streak of Slam-less years, and even during his summer woes that were capped by a stunning loss to No. 116 Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round of Wimbledon, there was always the feeling that even if Roger Federer was down in a match, his comeback was inevitable. He’d summon whatever it was that made him the sport’s all-time leader in Grand Slams and pull it out in the end.
When Federer went down two sets to Robredo on Monday night in New York, that feeling wasn’t there. It didn’t mean Federer couldn’t come back to win the match, the same way he didn’t always win those previous matches when you figured he’d comeback. But this time, there was a different inevitability all together. It was the inevitability of aging and decline.
Federer’s forehands sailed long. His footwork looked like that of someone wearing cinder blocks in the bottom of the Hudson. Every volley seemed to hit the middle of the net. He looked tense on every break point — he’d finish 2 for 16 and blew three games in which he held a 0-40 lead. This wasn’t the Roger Federer of old, nor the Roger Federer of the recent past. This was a one-time great struggling with the most basic of fundamentals and losing to a fellow tennis old-timer (Robredo is 31) that he’d owned throughout his career.
Font: usatoday
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