Federer speaks about injury & ranking drop

Switzerland’s Roger Federer reacts during a break in the Swiss Open second round tennis match against Germany’s Daniel Brands in Gstaad yesterday. – Reuters pic, July 25, 2013.

Its been a long and dry summer for Federer fans who watch on as Roger struggles with back injury and uncharacteristic losses.  Just one year ago Roger Federer raised his game to defy critics who called for his retirement and end throughout 2009 & 2010.  First the back issues:

“I’ve had serious problems with the back, I had to get some anti-inflammatories last week in Hamburg due to the pain,” he said after yesterday’s loss, his third of the summer against an opponent ranked outside the top 50.

“I will have to do a lot of exercises and see how it all feels. My main priority now is to fix my back. I would love to be able to train at 100%,” said the former world number one.

“I’ll have to see if the rehab is enough to let me play in Montreal. If it is, I’ll go; if not, then it gives me another week.”

Second his drop in ranking and desire to win?

“I don’t think my ego would suffer if one day I was no longer in the top 10,” Federer told Le Matin. “There’s a moment when the rankings aren’t that important anymore. Honestly, I don’t even know what my current ranking is.  Today, my ranking isn’t that important to me anymore.”

“I don’t think my ego would suffer if one day I was no longer in the top 10,” Federer told Le Matin. “There’s a moment when the rankings aren’t that important anymore. Honestly, I don’t even know what my current ranking is.  Today, my ranking isn’t that important to me anymore.”

“In terms of rankings at least. Lleyton Hewitt is a great example in my mind. Whether he’s 170th, 20th or fifth, his ranking isn’t important to him. He just takes a lot of pleasure in playing.”

“I don’t have any problem with critics,” Federer said. “But I expect people to be honest. This situation is not new for me. In 2009 and 2010, people were already saying, ‘He’s won everything, now he’s done.’ The more people comment, the greater the probability that someone will say something stupid.”

I admire the positive attitude Roger Federer has about the sport.  Though he has played more matches than almost everyone current on the ATP tour, his love for playing Tennis still shines through.  Tennis is a tough sport on the body.  He has done a masterful job managing the pain and balance it takes to continue to play and continue to win.  I believe we are far from over for Federer. Even though the reality of wear and tear is hard to deny we are still talking about the most talented and majestic tennis player who ever picked up a racquet.  As long as Roger Federer is content to play, I am very content to watch and learn.

 

Related articles

• Roger Federer deserves better fans. (lovesetmatch.wordpress.com)
• Roger Federer Changing Tennis Racquets. What It Means and Why We Should Care. (lovesetmatch.wordpress.com)

Roger Federer deserves better fans.

The last couple of months have taught me one thing: Federer deserves better fans.

Or better, many so called “Federer fans” are just pathetic hypocrites that jump on the bandwagon and get off as soon as he doesn’t win everything THEY think he should win.

Exactly. If you have recently spent just  five minutes on a social network of your choice , you must know what I am talking about.

Of course, everyone has their personal opinion and everyone wants to give advices to their favourite player, as we’d all do towards someone we love, a close friend, a relative. Especially if we are afraid for them, if we think they’re not doing the right choices.

But everything has a limit. In so many occasions lately I’ve been struck by the incredible amount of “Roger must do this/mustn’t do that”, “it’s impossible for Federer to.. “, “he has to…”, “he can’t even think about doing…” and the harshness in which these comments were written.

I’m also puzzled by the variety of topics in which Roger apparently needs our assistance: which tournaments he has to play and what results he has to achieve at least, which racquet he has to play with, what kind of injury he has/has not, how he has to live his family life… and the evergreen: the retirement issue.

Needless to say, some losses are painful. More than I could ever express in any language, let alone in my poor English. It hurts seeing him struggle and not being able to express his genius in the way we are used to.

BUT.

It’s just a matter of respect towards the player and the person. Even if he wasn’t to win another single title, even if he went down to number 358404843 in the world rankings, I just feel we have to respect his choice to do what he loves doing. It’s too easy to celebrate every win and stand beside him when he breaks record or climbs the ranking and then criticize him every time he “disappoints” our expectations.

Are you guys kidding?

We are talking about a man that has nothing else to prove to anyone -save maybe himself alone- and whose legacy will be forever written in golden capital letters in every tennis book, no matter what happens next! And, what probably means the most to me, a man that gives us so many emotions every single time he steps on a tennis court. A man that loves what he’s doing so much, that he refuses to give up. A man that puts himself to the test day in day out. Who else at his age, having won all he’s won, would have decided to try out a new racquet in two minor events? (By the way, this should tell a lot about those who say that Federer is just a talented spoiled Swiss guy that doesn’t work as hard as others and doesn’t care as much as others.)

If we truly love and support Roger, we should at least respect his decisions and stand by him, no matter what. We owe him that. We owe him.

Roger Federer talks of Hamburg Defeat

“I think he was a bit better than me today,” said Federer, a four-time former winner of the bet-at-home Open – German Tennis Championships.  “Both sets could have gone either way. So, it’s clearly a pity I couldn’t win either of the sets because I was starting to feel better towards the end of the match. But unfortunately I couldn’t push him further and create more chances today.

“I think the conditions were totally different to last night. It was wet and heavy last night, under the lights,” said Federer, who had battled past Florian Mayer on Friday evening. “It’s a quick turnaround to quick conditions today and a totally different opponent. But that’s no excuse.”

“I don’t think it had much to do with the racket today,” said Federer. “I tried everything I could at this tournament. It’s been a difficult week throughout. But I’m happy I fought through many matches. It gives me the matches I was looking for.

“I was clearly hoping, after winning a tough one yesterday, to somehow get through today and then give myself an opportunity to win the title tomorrow. It’s disappointing, but defeats like that happen sometimes.

“I had a great time. I really enjoyed playing in front of the people here in Hamburg on the Centre Court where I’ve had so many nice moments in my career. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to the finals, but nevertheless, I did have four good matches and these are the kind of matches I need.”

This tweet caught my eye:

.@rogerfederer loss No 114 @FedeDelbonis 1st time lost in back-to-back tournament outside Top 100 since ’02 @Wimbledon (Ancic),Gstaad (Stepanek).

1		R. Federer	67	64		Semifinals
		F. Delbonis	79	77		Jul 20, Completed