The Self-Destruction of the Master

"I self-destruct," said Federer after his shock defeat to rejuvenated Spanish veteran, Tommy Robredo, in the fourth round of the US Open. And I totally agree with him. It's painful to witness the all-time great Federer struggle so much on the tennis court nowadays. Sadly, yesterday was no exception.
More often than not, his game completely deserts him, and he is unable to cut down on the unforced errors and to ultimately beat the opponents he is supposed to beat. It's understandable that he might have difficulties overcoming Murray, Djokovic, Nadal, or del Potro, but to lose to Julien Benneteau, Sergyi Stakhovsky, Federico Delbonis, Daniel Brands, or Tommy Robredo, is unacceptable, especially for someone who is looking to win a Grand Slam.
Although he made major adjustments, Federer cannot quite get out of this rabbit hole he entered since the beginning of the season. After Wimbledon, he changed his racquet, opting for a larger one, plus he increased his schedule, adding some smaller tournaments like Hamburg, Gstaad, or Basel, in an attempt to get more matches and rediscover the winning touch. So far the strategies did not pay off, the Swiss being nowhere near his best.

The lackluster form surfaced once more in Flushing Meadows, where Roger failed to convert on the big points, gifting Robredo one of the best wins of his career. “I kind of feel like I beat myself, without taking any credit away from Tommy,” Federer said. “Clearly he was making sure he was making many balls. It was up to me to make the difference and I couldn't. I kind of self destructed, which is very disappointing, especially on a quicker court. Your serve helps you out. You're going to make the difference somewhere. I just couldn't do it. It was a frustrating performance today.”

Frustrating indeed, as Roger could have easily sail through in minimum of sets. However, the missed opportunities (he only converted 2 out of the 16 break points he had) came back to haunt him in the end. The Swiss made 43 unforced error to go down 6-7,3-6,4-6 for the first time in eleven career meeting with the Spaniard. The loss also prevented a much anticipated quarterfinal encounter with arch-rival, Rafael Nadal. “It’s not that much of a disappointment at the end of the day,” Roger admitted. “If I'm playing like this, I'm not going to beat Rafa, or Kohlschreiber, for that matter… I was fighting with other things in my match today. Not thinking too far ahead of myself, especially the level I was playing at."

Having put forth his poorest season in more than a decade, the Swiss now faces a huge challenge to qualify for the Season Endings Championships in London. However, a more important problem for Federer is to start winning these easy matches, so that he builds his confidence back, and begins an uphill climb toward the top of the rankings. “When I lose, people are shellshocked to see me play this way… But there's no doubt about it, I'm trying hard out there trying to make it work. Sometimes it just doesn't happen.” To be fair to Roger, it did happen for such a long time, that it actually feels natural that his extraterrestrial run would end one day. I just hope that day is not today and that Federer will live to fight a few more seasons.

A former top 10 player, Tommy Robredo continued his rejuvenation this year by reaching his first quarterfinal at the Flushing Meadows. The Spaniard took full advantage on an erratic display from Federer to stun the five-time titlist in straight sets.

Although everyone was anticipating a mouth-watering clash with arch-rival Rafael Nadal in the last eight, Federer proved once again that he is going through extremely turbulent times. The Swiss lost to Tommy Robredo in the fourth round, his first defeat to the Spaniard in eleven career meetings.

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