Like his fellow legend Serena Williams on the women’s side, Federer, who will turn 35 in August, is sailing into uncharted waters when it comes to winning Grand Slam titles. In the Open era, only Ken Rosewall has won a major at that age or older. Time would appear to be running out, if it hasn’t already.
As far as Slams go, Federer has succumbed to the aging process in a predictable way. He won 16 majors up to age 29; he’s won just one in the five years since, and that came more than three summers ago. Everywhere else, though, Federer has defied the aging process. He’s coming off a season in which he won six titles and 63 matches, reached two Grand Slam finals and beat the world No. 1 three times in straight sets. No wonder Federer says he has no plans to retire. For the moment, any talk of his imminent demise has been silenced.
But as many aging champions, including Federer, have learned, it’s one thing to reach a Grand Slam final, and another to win it. The Swiss has lost his last three major title matches, all over the last two years and all to Novak Djokovic. Can Federer make a last hurrah at a major happen in 2016? He’ll likely need someone to take care of Djokovic; when Federer faced the Serb in the finals at Wimbledon the US Open, all the confidence suddenly drained from his face, and his game.
Over the last four years, Federer has learned to win without all the physical gifts of youth. He healed his back, switched to a bigger racquet, hired a new coach and attacked the net more. If the draw breaks his way, he can capture an 18th major title before an inevitable slowdown occurs.
It’s one thing to keep winning in the first half of your 30s, but what about the second half? There are few examples in tennis history for Federer to follow. Federer has also benefited from Rafael Nadal’s recent struggles; if Nadal is back at full strength, that will add to the number of problems Federer must solve.
Federer has found a winning formula for 30-something tennis. If he keeps using it, there’s no reason to think it won’t work at a Grand Slam at least one more time.
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