Roger Federer: The God of tennis has become mortal

And now, this. A loss in the US Open pre-quarterfinals against a 31-year-old Spaniard whose best career-best ATP ranking was 5th back in 2006 (he must’ve looked like an ant to Fed back then), and is currently 22nd in the world. Spain is certainly not where Federer is going to spend many vacations in the future. And many suspect he is going to have a lot of free time on his hands soon.

Is this the end? Many thought Federer was finished two years ago. Like 2013, he didn’t win any Grand Slams in 2011. However, he made the semi-finals in three of them, reaching the final at Roland Garros. His total win-loss record for the year was 64-12 and his year-end ATP rank was 3rd.

Federer bounced back at Wimbledon in 2012, after winning no Grand Slam in 2011

Statistically, 2011 was no different from his performances over the couple of years that preceded it. It was an aberration; what stock brokers would call a market correction. The champion that he is, Federer bounced back the next year, winning his 7th title at Wimbledon and his 17th career Grand Slam. His win-loss record for 2012 was 71-12 and he ended the year in 2nd place in the ATP rankings. Federer would liked to have included an Olympic gold medal to his conquests in 2012, but not even he could have stopped the forces of destiny and the collective will of the British public that won Andy Murray his medal.

This year, though, has been a different story. He’s only reached the final in two out of 13 tournaments, a far cry from even 2011, when he reached the final in six out of 16. His only trophy in the year has come at the Gary Weber Open in Halle, a tournament where the next highest seeded player was world no. 9 Richard Gasquet. His win-loss record for 2013 stands at a lowly 35-12, a win percentage of 74%, his worst performance since 2002. His losses have been numerous and I hate to say it, humiliating. A second-round exit from Wimbledon, in a four-set loss to a man ranked 116th in the world, was not befitting the most successful player in that tournament’s history. And a fourth-round exit from a Grand Slam he has won 5 times, the most in the Open Era along with Jimmy Connors and Pete Sampras, seems to have forever darkened the halo of invincibility that once surrounded him.

Tommy Robredo’s muted victory celebration and post-match musing on Federer’s apparent lack of confidence show that the fear that Federer once inspired in his opponents has now turned inwards. He is afraid of himself, afraid of losing, and his competitors fancy their chances.

The optimist in me thinks there might still be a second encore; he might return in 2014 to dazzle us all once again. But I doubt that’s going to happen. Believe me, I would be absolutely overjoyed to see it, but it is an unlikely event.

Roger Federer is possibly the greatest tennis player the world has ever seen. But on this day, and perhaps for the rest time, he is no longer a Tennis God. Roger Federer stands before us, a mortal.