Regrets? He will have a few.
Roger Federer's brutal, unexpected, straight-sets loss to Marin Cilic in Saturday's US Open semi-final looks like a significant curtain call. The Swiss master's grand slam final days appear to be over.
Of course, he has been written off before. Yet he has proven doubters wrong time and again, most recently by reaching the Wimbledon final in July, only to lose to Novak Djokovic. But this feels like a reality check to the man who has staged more comebacks than Frank Sinatra.
The day began so well for Federer. Djokovic, the world No 1, was knocked out by Kei Nishikori in the day’s first semi-final. Suddenly, a sixth US Open men’s title seemed there for the taking.
The was only one problem – Cilic was thinking along similar lines.
There is no suggestion that Federer, 33, underestimated Cilic. You do not count seven Wimbledon titles, five US Opens, four Australian Opens and a French Open among 80 career titles by disrespecting opponents.
Yet from the start, he seemed uninspired against Cilic. As the first set drifted away, he had no answers to Cilic’s powerful serve and returns. He soon was faced with the task of repairing a two-set deficit for the second time in two days. He looked a tired man.
The defeat, when it finally came, had a sense of sad inevitability about it, an end to a magnificent era of dominance, like Spain’s early exit at the recent World Cup in Brazil, or Larry Holmes pummelling the sad figure of Muhammad Ali into submission in 1980.
The Federer comeback never came, and it must be said that there was little glory in this exit.
Shots were just too long. His tactic of approaching the net only worked on the odd occasion. Nothing seemed to work. It will hurt Federer, and his fans, but the painful truth is that Cilic was comfortable from start to finish.
Indeed, he was more bullish in the post-match interviews than he had been on the court, refusing to accept that his and Djokovic’s defeats marked the end of an era.
“You said the same thing in Australia, everybody,” he said after his loss. “And then we know what happened at the French Open final, Wimbledon final.”
Privately, he will have genuine concerns. Having insisted that last year’s physical troubles are behind him, where does this defeat, at full strength, leave him?
Almost certainly, his best shot at winning a last US Open is gone. The Australia Open draw in January is unlikely to be so forgiving, and by the time of the French Open, a fit Rafael Nadal will be a clear favourite to claim a 10th title.
In the Open era, no one has won a grand slam beyond age 32. When Wimbledon 2015 comes around, Federer will be two months shy of his 34th birthday, and the big question will loom large on the horizon.
Tennis’ last two genuine greats both retired at their most-cherished tournament.
Pete Sampras bid the tennis world farewell at a special ceremony at the 2003 US Open. Andre Agassi, too, retired in New York three years later, with an emotional speech to the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Will Federer follow suit and bid the world of tennis farewell on his beloved Centre Court at Wimbledon?
Much will depend on his form between now and then. But with every exit, and comeback, the likelihood that Federer has one more grand slam title in him drops considerably. Federer won a major every year between 2003 and 2010.
Then came a gap of 30 months between his 2010 Australian Open title and his last major, at Wimbledon in 2012.
If Federer fails win in Melbourne or Paris, his next appearance at the All England Club would take place exactly three years since that win over Andy Murray. Another failure to win the title, and already that looks a monumental task, and it would be hard to imagine he will be back at Wimbledon in 2016.
In recent years, Federer has made a habit of recovering every time his career looked to be in terminal decline.
He has suggested that he may continue playing regardless, unshackled by any grand slam obsession. “It’s not important to my life,” he said. “I don’t need it to be more happy or anything.”
Only he will know if a life of mediocrity is something he can tolerate. Eventually though, like Ali, and Sinatra, he will have to face up, and inevitably lose, to the greatest opponent of all.
Time.
Whenever he walks away, he will leave a legacy that will be hard to surpass. A record that shows he took the blows. Sadly for Federer, doing it his way no longer looks enough.
akhaled@thenational.ae
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