Roger Federer is 38, and his recent loss at the 2019 US Open confirmed that
No one has used a tennis racquet like a magic wand, regularly conjuring spells of ethereal beauty, like he has. The ball has not obeyed anybody’s command like it has obeyed his. For two decades, Roger Federer has regaled fans around the world and held them captive with his resplendent deeds on the tennis court.
Federer has managed to create the illusion that the concept of time does not apply to him. In an era where there is a premium on power hitting, Federer has caressed the tennis ball and taken sport-watching to aesthetic peaks not witnessed before. Federer’s genius has shone like a bright and luminous sun, relegating the other mortals to the background.
But there is a problem with being a genius. For a genius will not only trick himself, but also his followers, into believing that the sunset is something not to be worried about, that one moment of unmatched brilliance can delay the inevitable. But mortality can be a very tough thing to deal with, especially in sport, and it creeps in with a stealth that hoodwinks the athlete himself.
Irrespective of all the accolades, irrespective of their illustrious accomplishments in the past, even supremely gifted athletes fall prey to the claws of time. Arguably the greatest boxer of all time, Muhammad Ali, got a pounding of a lifetime in his final days at the hands of Larry Holmes. Sir Don Bradman got out for a duck in his last Test innings, and that stopped the ultimate batting divinity from ending his career with an average of over 100.
The last time Federer won a Grand Slam was in January 2018. The last time he won the US Open was in 2008. While Federer has flirted with greatness in the last one and a half years, he has not been able to cross the line.
At Wimbledon last year, Kevin Anderson got the better of Federer in the quarterfinals. At last year’s US Open, a little known Australian John Millman bundled the Swiss maestro out in four sets.
At this year’s Australian Open, Stefanos Tsitsipas got the better of Federer in the fourth round and in the French Open, Rafael Nadal pummeled him in the semi-finals in straight sets.
Federer’s best chance to add to his Grand Slam collection came at this year’s Wimbledon. Federer looked sublime for a majority of the final, but Djokovic seized the key moments and emerged victorious.
And now, Grigor Dimitrov has beaten Federer for the first time ever in the quarterfinals of the US Open.
Federer and his fans have to understand that he does not have a lot of time left to add to his Grand Slam tally. The signs of mortality are beginning to show up, raising their ugly hood time and again.
He is 38 now, and his loss at the US Open confirmed that.