On the 2011 US Open “Super Saturday” semifinal match between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic I witnessed the most bizarre display of mental weakness from a player many (myself included) consider the greatest ever to have held a tennis racquet.
What was especially dumbfounding about the whole event was the fact that someone who’s been in this position so many times before (that of closing out a tough match), who has been to the final of every grand slam at least 5 times, who has won 16 of them, buckled under the pressure the way a qualifier would.
On the fifth set (let’s ignore his Houdini-like disappearance from the third and fourth), finally serving for the match at 5-3 after a well-won break over the Serb, with 2 match points at 40-15, Roger hit a nice serve down the T off of which Novak was miraculously able to fire a huge winner. Great, 40-30, still match point. Roger misses the first serve, hits a tentative second serve that results in a lengthy rally that Novak ends up winning by a lucky net cord. Deuce. Roger’s thunderous serve deserts him once more, and he hits a second serve. One forehand error from Roger and we’re at break point, ad-out.
At so many of these important points in his career, Roger’s incredibly effective serve has been able to bail him out. This time, maybe from nerves or fatigue or whatever, Roger couldn’t hit a first serve to save his life. First serve into the net. No worries; perhaps we’ll get a rally out of this point and Roger is more than capable of handling it. Unless he double faults. One second service long and Roger had handed Novak the keys to the match in a silver platter. His subsequent collapse in the next three games were a direct result of that brainfart of a service game, with 2 match points, 5-3 up.
I don’t know what was going on in Roger’s head, or how tired he was, or whether he was injured or whatever, but this has got to be one of the worst closing performances of his career, being 2 sets to love up and unable to finish off what should’ve been a straightforward service game.
like many other Fed fans out there, I was heartbroken. Not because he lost (he’s done that before, and I’ve always shrugged it off), but because he let himself down and threw in the towel.
At the age of 30, many say his body is giving out. That’s a load of nonsense. His body’s fine, but his once stalwart mind is broken. If he recovers that mental strength that used to be one of his defining qualities, we may yet see some true Fed magic next year.
