A look back at Roger Federer's incredible comeback at AO 2017
There was one particular 26 shot rally in the final set of Australian Open 2017 between Rafael Nadal and arguably, the “greatest of them all”, where the ageing maestro hit an almost magical forehand down the line. It left Nadal gaping. It was a throwback to those glory days when the great Federer would time and again leave his opponents dumbstruck.
Great men invite challenges. They are in fact bored when one is not presented before them. That is why the 18th Grand Slam title of the great Roger Federer would probably count as one of the greatest comeback stories in tennis in recent memory. Consider this – he had dropped out of the top 15 for the first time in over a decade, he had not won a Grand Slam for over four and half years and most players had begun to fancy their chances against him.
On top of that, he did not have a proper warm-up tournament leading into the first Grand Slam of the year, and for the first time in his career, had undergone a major knee surgery.
Time can be a cruel killer. And for those who are extremely passionate about the sport, the decline can be so steady, that they probably do not realize it. That is because even though the mind is still so ever ready, the body simply refuses to co-operate.
Sachin Tendulkar, Leander Paes, Viswanathan Anand (to name a few) had to take the wrath of time as it slowly and steadily caught up with them. That flick which Tendulkar would have so easily dispatched for four even in sleep looked more and more difficult to regenerate. That move which Anand would make to bamboozle the opponent had started to backfire.
To be honest, Federer has not reached that level yet. He can still beat any opponent when he is at his splendid best. He can still play the drop shot that can draw his opponent's awe. He can still unleash that deadly serve-and-volley game that has won him so many Grand Slam titles.
Coming into the Australian Open, probably the monkey was off his back. People had begun to write him off and with most of the focus on Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Paul Fein, a great tennis analyst, even predicted that Federer would not go past the quarterfinals.
However, coming into the Australian Open, Federer seemed to be a rejuvenated man. He did participate expecting to win and that probably allowed the genius in him to unveil without any inhibitions. Even before the semi-final against his fellow Swiss Wawrinka, Federer hinted that he never expected to last till the second week of the Australian Open.
Then with him winning the semifinal against Wawrinka, and Nadal reaching the final too, the Swiss maestro's old guard was back. Federer fans were very happy that their master was once again a part of the summit clash and seemed happy with him reaching the final. That probably worked in Federer’s favour. There was no pressure and so, he could play freely.
And when Genius is set free, it can mesmerize you. Federer was no longer playing the opponent, he was just returning the ball hit towards him. Even Rafa would have been pretty surprised with the aggressive approach Federer adopted against him in the final.