ARCHIVES: How Federer breathed life into a sagging career

This story was originally published in the issue dated Feb 11, 2018

federer-aus-open-afp (File) Roger Federer celebrates after beating Britain's Daniel Evans in their men's singles match on day three of the Australian Open in Melbourne | AFP
This story was originally published in the issue dated February 11, 2018

Grass is for cows, and Roger Federer. But on July 8, 2016, the undisputed king of grass court lay sprawled on the service line at the hallowed Centre Court of the Wimbledon. Across the net, his opponent for the day, up and coming Milos Raonic of Canada, watched as the usually elegant Swiss looked down and out in the tense five-setter. Till then, Federer, a seven-time Wimbledon champion, had never lost a semi-final in the London Slam. Today was an aberration.

Fast forward to January 2017, Australian Open. A different Federer is on display as he overcomes two tense five-setters to reach the final. Waiting for him is Rafael Nadal, another modern-day great. But this is Melbourne, where Federer is as much home as he is at Wimbledon. As the athletic Spaniard bowed to the Swiss grace at the end of five sets on Rod Laver Arena, millions of fans around the globe witnessed the rebirth of a champion whose journey in high voltage tennis began a decade and a half ago. For Federer, the barren stretch from 2013 to 2016 was over. In his mind, he knew he had gasoline left for the final lap of an illustrious career.

Following his success in Australia, Federer won two Masters events, skipped the clay court season, and then won his eighth Wimbledon without dropping a set. He finished the year as number two behind Nadal. He returned to the Australian Open last month and progressed to the final without dropping a set, even as his rivals, including Nadal, Novak Djokovic of Serbia and fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka, perished in the killing heat and humidity. In the final on January 28, he defeated Marin Cilic of Croatia in five sets, reaffirming his status as the greatest male tennis player ever. He became the second oldest man to win a grand slam, and with 20 crowns, is comfortably ahead of Nadal, who has 16.

The year 2016 was a disastrous one for Federer. The day after he lost to Djokovic in the semi-final of the Australian Open, he was running a bath for his seven-year-old twin daughters, Myla and Charlene. (He has a set of twin boys, too, Leo and Lenny, who turn four this year.) As he turned left, shifting his weight to the left foot, he felt something click in his left knee. An MRI revealed that he had a torn meniscus, a piece of cartilage that acts as a shock absorber between the thigh and shin bones.

On February 3, Federer underwent surgery, the first in his career, and it forced him to pull out of the French Open, snapping a 65-tournament run in grand slams, dating back to his debut. This was followed by his defeat in Wimbledon, forcing him to stay off the circuit for the rest of the season. But that decision probably saved his career. Upon his return, Federer looked eager, fitter and more poised than ever.

 56-roger-federer The most important person in Federer’s support team is his wife, Mirka, a former professional tennis player | Reuters

While today’s Federer is the epitome of equanimity on and off court, he was a brat as a prodigy. Coaches at the Basel Old Boys Tennis Club still remember his tantrums as an eight-year-old. His parents, Robert and Lynette, both competent social players, had to often intervene to calm him down. Madeline Barlocher, one of his earliest coaches, remembers Federer hiding behind the umpire’s chair and crying nonstop after losing a game. As he turned 12, Federer realised that tennis was his true calling and started training under Peter Carter, an Australian who was to have a major impact on his career.

Federer later joined the Swiss national tennis training centre in Lausanne, two hours from his home in Basel. He visited his family on weekends and remembers the period as a challenging one. He was not so fluent in French, which most people in Lausanne spoke, and he did not have his way most of the time, but he learned to cope. The stint toughened him as a player and helped him grow as a person. But for his prodigious talent, Federer was a normal teenager. He loved to bleach his hair blond, and had posters of Shaq, Michael Jordan, Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker and Pamela Anderson on his bedroom door.

In 1998, under the guidance of Carter and former Swedish player Peter Lundgren, Federer turned professional. It was clear that he was a precocious talent, but was marred by inconsistency. He announced his arrival on the big stage by defeating seven-time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras in the fourth round in the 2001 championships. Sampras, another all-time great, retired the following year after his victory in the US Open. Despite the impressive debut, Federer kept on misfiring. The 2002 Wimbledon saw the 20-year-old prodigy bundled out in the first round by big-serving Mario Ancic.

A month later, while playing the Toronto Masters, Federer received news that Carter died in a car accident while vacationing in South Africa. He was inconsolable. He ran through the streets, screaming and weeping. He felt guilty as he had recommended South Africa as a vacation spot to the Carters. Federer’s mother is from South Africa and he holds a South African passport. “Carter had the biggest impact on me in terms of my technique,” said Federer after winning his 20th grand slam. He is very close to Carter’s family and invites his parents, Bob and Diana, to the Australian Open every year, and sends them flight tickets, hotel bookings, a courtesy car and tickets for the tournament.

Carter’s death changed Federer completely. He won his first Wimbledon in 2003 and finished the year ranked number two in the world. On February 2, 2004, he became the top ranked tennis player in the world, and for the next four years, Federer ruled world tennis except the red clay of Roland Garros, where Nadal always got the better of him. From 2004 to 2008, Federer spent 237 consecutive weeks as world number one. Altogether, he spent 302 weeks at the summit of men’s tennis.

Chinks began appearing in Federer’s game in 2008. He lost the Australian Open semi-final to Novak Djokovic, which ended his record of 10 consecutive grand slam finals. At Roland Garros, Nadal subjected Federer to his worst humiliation, demolishing him 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. It perhaps marked the beginning of Nadal’s absolute dominance over Federer. A month later, Federer lost in 4 hours and 48 minutes to Nadal in the Wimbledon final, which, according to aficionados, was the greatest tennis game ever played.

A decade later, Federer admitted that he was scarred and scared by Nadal’s utter dominance on clay. “Maybe I lost the Wimbledon final in 2008 because of too many clay court matches, because he crushed me at the French Open final,” he said. One of the enduring challenges that Federer faced from being anointed as the greatest ever is his record against Nadal. Till they faced off in the 2017 Australian Open, Nadal had a head-to-head record of 23-11 against Federer. Yet, their last five meetings were won by Federer, reordering the dynamics of the rivalry.

Notwithstanding his artistry and skill, what makes the Federer story remarkable is his sheer perseverance. After his Wimbledon victory in 2012 till his return to glory in the 2017 Australian Open, Federer endured a barren spell in grand slams comparable to the amount of time he spent waiting for his first slam after turning pro. On May 19, 2016, The Daily Telegraph of London explained in an article why Federer would never win another grand slam. It concluded that “the player’s age, failure in recent years to win a major and the staggering improvement of Djokovic mean the most likely outcome before Federer retires is that he will end his career with 17 slams.”

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Federer decided to step out of his comfort zone to disprove the critics. When Paul Annacone, his coach from 2010 to 2013, who had also coached Sampras, suggested to him to switch to a bigger racquet, he readily agreed. He tried that first in 2013, but it was hurting his already fragile back. Federer persisted nevertheless, and used the broader frame for the first time in a major during Australian Open 2014. Former world number one Jim Courier said Federer would not have won the 2017 Australian Open without the new racquet. “I used to shank backhands often with my old racquet,” conceded Federer.

The new racquet revolutionised his backhand game. His one-handed backhand is now more powerful and has become an offensive weapon. For years, Federer’s double-fisted opponents, especially Nadal, used to target his backhand with relentless high bouncing top spinners. With his new racquet, Federer now attacks with his backhand, irrespective of the height of the ball and the top spin. The backhand slice is mostly gone and the shots are flatter and quicker.

In August 2015, Federer was practising with his hitting partner Benoit Paire ahead of the Cincinnati Masters. Federer was suffering from jetlag, and Paire was complaining of an earache. So, to keep the rallies short, Federer started sneaking up inside the baseline for his backhand, cutting short the backswing. To his surprise, it turned out to be a potent weapon and he used it in the final against Djokovic. It unsettled the Serb, forcing him to hit harder and go for the lines. Federer won the match in straight sets. The move has been even more effective against Nadal. After losing to Federer thrice in a row last year, Nadal admitted that the Swiss has turned his backhand into an effective weapon. “Roger did something unbelievable and I believe it is true that his backhand is great now,” said Nadal. Federer has also modified his second serve and further improved his returns. By defeating Nadal in five consecutive matches, Federer also seems to have exorcised the ghosts of his past humiliations at the hands of the Spaniard.

Federer is blessed by an incredibly intelligent and dedicated support team. He replaced his coach, Swedish great Stefan Edberg, in 2015 with his friend Ivan Ljubicic, who turned out to be an inspired choice as he is closer to Federer in age, possesses a sharp tennis brain and acts as a great sounding board. His long-time coach Severin Luthi, fitness trainer Pierre Paganini and physiotherapist Daniel Troxler have ensured that Federer turns out for his games with the perfect preparation possible.

The most important person in his support team is his wife, Mirka, a former professional tennis player who was once ranked 76th in the world. Federer and Mirka first met during the Sydney Olympics in 2000, representing Switzerland. She was later forced to retire because of a foot injury and has since been “the rock in Federer’s corner”. They got married in 2009. Annacone said Mirka understood the big picture extremely well. “She has been there since day one, so she knows what it takes and how to get there,” he said. Federer has made it clear several times that he continues on the tour only because Mirka let him do so. “This life wouldn’t work if she said no,” said Federer after winning his sixth Australian Open.

Federer’s comeback has undoubtedly been aided by the absence of his key rivals like Djokovic, Andy Murray and Wawrinka because of injuries. The next generation hopefuls like Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev are yet to step up and win big, offering Federer an opportunity to extend his dominance. He has also started to pick and choose tournaments, a privilege the Association of Tennis Professionals accords to senior pros. Unlike his rivals, Federer is blessed with a playing style that is marked by an economy of movement, keeping him relatively injury free. He also keeps his points short these days. Moreover, irrespective of the venue, Federer always enjoys home-court advantage. He is the perennial crowd favourite.

His popularity sometimes gives him an unfair advantage, say critics. During the Australian Open, Federer demanded and got night slots to play, a privilege Nadal and Djokovic did not get. After an energy-sapping third round match, Nadal alluded to the unfair advantage Federer enjoyed. “There is television, there are tickets to sell, there are players who achieve more than others. That’s why some players play in prime time and others don’t,” he said. Even in the final, Federer enjoyed an advantage over Cilic as the match was held indoors, citing heat rules. The same courtesy was not extended during the women’s final, and the losing finalist Simona Halep of Romania had to spend the night in a hospital, undergoing treatment for dehydration.

Tournament organisers are keen that Federer plays till the end to ensure healthy ticket sales and prime television slots. Federer, who is fluent in multiple languages, including English, French and German, is a natural communicator and connects easily with spectators across the world. And, he is immensely popular not just among fans, but with fellow players as well. Last year, he won the ATP Fans’ Favourite award for the 15th consecutive year, and was voted by fellow players as the winner of the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award and Comeback Player of the Year. His net worth is estimated to be around $500 million. With his elegant looks, politically correct speeches and old world charm, he is an advertisers’ delight.

Questions on Federer’s retirement have been going on for more than a decade now. The Swiss once told GQ how he would take that decision. “Let’s say I have a tournament,” he said. “I ask myself, how happy am I to be leaving home? Because it’d be so nice to stay. So, am I happy to pack my bags, and walk out the door, and put them in the car, and get in the car, look to the house and say, Okay, let’s do this—am I happy in that moment? Or do I wish I could stay longer? Every time it’s been: I’m happy to go. I’m still doing the right thing in my heart. It’s a test. If that moment comes and I’m like, ‘Hmm…’ I’ve heard other players say the same thing. A friend went to the airport and turned around—he couldn’t go play that tournament; he needed to see his family. That’s probably the end of a career.”