It was 2012 when Roger Federer last won a Grand Slam — his seventh Wimbledon title and 17th overall. The year was followed by a frustratingly barren run in 2013 where he couldn’t make a single final appearance in a major tournament. By his standards, it was nothing short of a catastrophe. His ATP ranking also plummeted to sixth in the world.
A serious back injury was also a reason for the slump in his form. But Federer knew only fitness couldn’t get him what he wanted to achieve — another Slam. He needed to make some tactical changes to his game as well. Aware that he was on the wrong side of 30s, Federer knew he didn’t have much time to wait for the fortune to return to his side again.
By the end of the year Federer decided to end his three-year relationship with coach Paul Annacone and included former seven-time Grand Slam winner Stefan Edberg in his coaching team.
It immediately showed results and Federer once again started to look a dominating player. He almost won the 2014 Wimbledon final. He also played semifinal of the US Open and reached the final of the year-end ATP World Tour Finals where his back injury relapsed and forced him to withdraw.
“This year I was close. Novak played well at Wimbledon, Cilic (Marin) was on fire at US open, French Open is always more difficult than the others. I really created opportunities,” Federer said after his IPTl match against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Monday. “People are always going to talk me down that ‘he is old and not so fit anymore’ but I feel I have never cramped on court, I am one of the fittest guys on the tour. I back myself (to win),” he added.
Talking about the next season, the world No. 2 Federer said he is expecting it to be interesting. “Regardless of who is going to play Slams, it is always hard to win five-set matches for two weeks, those tournaments are hard to win. I have won it (Slams) a few times, more times I have lost. Every year you feel it goes up a notch. The draw gets deeper, it is tough in the initial rounds and Novak is playing great, in his prime right now. Then I expect Rafa (Nadal) to be in tip top shape again. From that stand point, it is going to be interesting.”
Asked to pick one tournament that he would want to win more than any other in 2015, the Swiss genius picked Wimbledon. “I would probably pick Wimbledon, you never have enough Wimbledons. It all started from there for me, watching Edberg (Stefan) and Becker (Boris). It inspired me to play tennis.”
The greatest player of all time Federer was overwhelmed by the affection he experienced in his two-day visit to India, though spent most of his time on court or in hotel room. “The great moments I spent here will forever be in my memory. Thank you New Delhi! Tremendous crowd support! Forever grateful,” he posted in the wee hours of Tuesday before leaving India.