In a shocking turn of events, the Swiss tennis legend, Roger Federer was knocked out of the French Open 2015 at the quarterfinal stage by a fellow Swiss player, Stan Warwinka. Federer who came into the tournament as second seed and was expected to put a strong performance. Instead, it was a shock and disappoint for many as the 2009 champions at Roland Garros bowed out this year against the eight seed in three straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(7-4).
This seems to be a further sign of decline of the 33-year old tennis legend who has been on a down curve since over well over a couple of year. The last title we won was at Wimbledon in 2012. Since then Novak Djokovic has been the reigning world number one and bagging all the major grand slams of the season. Roger, in a similar fashion was knocked out of the third stage of the Australian Open earlier this year by Italy’s Andreas Seppi.
The 17 time world Grand Slam title winner could not control the game as he struggled to place the strokes. He might have been distracted by the unusually strong winds on the court however, it should not have been enough to unnerve the Swiss maestro. It was the third time in his career and the first time in 13 years that Roger Federer failed to break an opponent’s serve in a Grand Slam match.
Many speculate that it is perhaps time for the legend to retire but Roger himself insists that he has steam in him left to play for a while more.Roger is living on the hope that he can regain lost confidence of his followers by winning the next major title in the year which is also his personal favourite, the Wimbledon. The clay of Roland Garos has never favourite his playing style and he had to wait years and fight off a determined Nadal in his hay days to win the French Open back in 2009. Wimbledon on the other hand is more like his backyard.
Roger after his loss said he is already looking forward to the next challenge, “I am already thinking about Wimbledon because it is a big goal for the season”.
This year the players will get an extra week to prepare for the next Grand Slam in the season. After the match Federer said, “There is nothing positive about losing today because I don’t need the extra days. I will recover and spend time with my family and then look forward to Halle and Wimbledon”.
Talking about his game and his future Roger Federer has not let the knockout from French Open affect him. Instead he seems happy with his game, “I want to win it (Wimbledon) and I feel like my game is good. It’s been solid, it’s been positive and I have just got to keep it up”.
In fact if we compare, Roger’ quarterfinal knockout at the French Open this year is an improvement as compared to 2014 season where he suffered a fourth round loss.
Tags: French Open, Grand Slam, Roger Federer, Roland Garros, Sports, Stan Warwinka, Tennis