Roger Federer: "I will come back extremely strong"

Roger Federer: Disappointed but not disheartened

Roger Federer had come to Wimbledon 2011 with high hopes. The prospect of his equaling Pete Sampras’ seven Wimbledon titles was surely on his mind. He has not added to his tally of 16 grand slam wins since the Australian Open of 2010, and the way he played at the French Open indicated a revival of sorts. However, on Wednesday the Fed-Express ran out of steam as he was ousted by Jo Wilfred Tsonga in the quarter-final. This is Federer’s second consecutive quarter final exit. The one in 2010 came against Tomas Berdych.

The sudden exit of World no.2 and six time champion has brought the Wimbledon to an unexpected end for many. Tsonga has disrupted the formation of the fabulous 4 in the semis and by breaking through has posed a serious challenge to his next opponent as well. Tsonga was found exulting in an outwardly explicit manner indicating the magnitude of his achievement. He admitted that he surprised himself by his own performance. Tsonga’s powerful serve came in handy as he did not allow Federer a single break point in the last 3 sets.

In the course of the last two year’s enough speculation has been made about Federer’s declining form and on his ability to further add to his 16 titles. The grass court has been his bastion for a long time and losing at Wimbledon consecutively is a bigger setback than any other. Federer had to come out and defend his own ability in the post-match press conference. It was an unusual sight as we saw a 16 time grand slam winner tell the media that he can win another one. The media must be sensitive enough to give the champion his own space.

As most of us saw the match, it was Tsonga punching above his weight rather than Federer playing terrible Tennis. Federer won the first two sets comfortably making vast distance between himself and Tsonga in terms of the stats but it was a spirited comeback from Tsonga that derailed him. Tsonga confessed to Federer’s superiority any day and praised him, “He’s the biggest champion in the sport. He has achieved so much and is the best player in the world“. The words are from a wise man who realizes that he has just played an unbelievable match, only because that involved felling somebody as good as Roger Federer.

Whether Federer adds to his tally further or not, we cannot disregard the fact that he is still a fierce competitor. He has made the French Open final this year and we will see him make more finals in the coming year. Federer put an end to this debate by a strong assertion, “I definitely can (win another title), I would not be here if it was not the case”.

The next step for Federer is to get ready for the Davis cup as he represents his country and then proceed to the American Summer. Federer said, “I’m healthy. Even though I took a loss today, I don’t feel discouraged in any way. I will work harder than ever and hopefully come back extremely strong.“