Roger Federer: Demise of the cheese fondue?

Lurking around the corner of the glorious era of men’s tennis is an impending darkness set to engulf the world of tennis; darkness so great that it may be years before the Sun shines ever so brightly. The dreaded possibility of Roger Federer’s retirement has been a matter of contemplation for a few years now. We would like to believe retirement is for mere mortals and we know for a fact that the Swiss maestro is no ordinary mortal, so any concerns of his retirements are to be swept aside, right? Sadly, not.

The Rome masters final is yet another reminder of his impending retirement. Nadal improved his career record against Federer to 20—10 defeating the latter 6/1, 6/3 in just under 1 hour and 10 minutes. Well, we could make light of it and blame it on the surface – its clay after all and it’s happened before – 2008 French Open final when Nadal beat Federer for a mere four games and five years & five Grand Slam titles later, Federer is still around.

The Master has, to his credit, shrugged off his detractors for a few years now just as he has to his opponents’ challenge for the better half of the decade. But like all great warriors, the Master will have to hang his sword one day and that day doesn’t seem too far away.

The writing in on the wall – the 31-year-old Swiss is not as quick as he used to be and shots not as lethal but the forehand is still arguably the best in the circuit. Rafa in his autobiography – ‘Rafa: My story”, describes in his own inimitable style -”Federer will retire like a flower while the rest of us are not as lucky’ (Rafa’s literal Spanish to English translations are simply adorable!).

Men’s tennis will be significantly poorer without Fedex and in a game that has increasingly become a contest of brute force, the Swiss is an epitome of sheer talent, a genius in shotmaking, one of the few torch bearers of the dying art of serve & volley and in all a brilliant ambassador of the sport. Rafa-Djokovic rivalry does not evoke the same emotion as Fedex-Rafa. Well, we are getting a little ahead of time. All is not lost as yet.

Come June, there is always the hope of yet another Federer-dominated Wimbledon. To the eternal possibilities of hope…