Thursday, September 13, 2007

A 12th Slam for Roger

Another year, another three Grand Slams for Roger Federer, a different opponent vanquished in each one. Fernando Gonzalez went down in the Australian Open final to start the year, then promptly lost it the rest of the year, making only one finals, in Rome on clay, and never making it out of the 2nd round during the summer hard-court season. His next opponent in a Slam final was Nadal, who easily beat Fed in the French final, only to lose in a tight 5 set Wimbledon Final a month later. And just this last weekend of course, 20 year old hotshot Novak Djokovic, who displays both a comical side and a temper on the court, lost in straight sets in the US Open final.

The gap between Roger and the rest of the mere mortals on the tour seems to be closing though, as Djokovic not only beat him in the Master Series event in Canada last month, but also had multiple set points in the first 2 sets this past Sunday before nerves got the better of him. Easy forehands and backhands were missed at crucial times, and the Serb also committed some very untimely double-faults to keep Fed in the sets. Federer has now won 3 Slams in a year 3 times in his career, 2004, 06, and 07 (One Slam in 2003 and two in 2005 bring the total to 12). For perspective, neither Sampras nor Agassi ever won 3 Slams in a year, and the last man to do it was Mats Wilander in 1988. He's also been in the finals of the last 10 Grand Slams he's played in, yet another unmatched feat.

Nonetheless, at the age of 26 now, I'd be surprised if Federer can win 3 Slams in a year again. It takes great health and a little bit of luck to accomplish such a feat, and to do it 4 times would truly be remarkable - heck, 3 is amazing!! Djokovic will likely learn how not to choke at crucial moments in the future, Nadal is still just 21 and getting better on the hardcourts, and there are always a number of young, hungry up-and-comers chomping at the bit for a chance to shock Roger and the world in a major. I will say though, I'd be shocked if Roger didn't break Pete's record of 14 Slams eventually, I just think it will happen in 2009, not 2008.

This week there are two tournaments - in Beijing, China and Bucharest, Romania.