Why I Can't Wait For Federer to Retire

Today, Roger Federer defeated Andy Roddick in the longest Grand Slam match of all time—77 games, 6 more than the previous record set in the 1927 Australian Open. And we thought last year’s encounter between the world’s #1 and #2, Federer and Nadal was the greatest match ever! John McEnroe called it “the greatest match I have ever seen”. ‘08’s final, like this match, could not be decided in just 5 sets; it was won 9-7 in the final set by the underdog Rafael Nadal. In some ways, despite a 30-game fifth set this year, last year’s final was actually better. There was more up-and-down, more service breaks, more comebacks, and the underdog actually won—the first time Roger had ever lost in a Grand Slam final. It wasn’t the server’s battle that was the 2009 final. Not until his 33rd service game was Roddick broken. If you add up only these games, that’s over 5 sets worth of service games won by Roddick. You gotta hand it to the guy. Coming into today, he was 2-18 against Roger. In 11 of those losses, he failed to even win a set, and all of his 18 defeats came in the quarterfinals or later in a tournament. Losing to the same opponent for 9 years in a row must be one of the most frustrating things a human being can go through (except maybe an 86-year World Series drought). And today, after some of the hardest offseason training he’s ever done, to come out in his 21st match against Federer, once again the underdog, and to battle the way he did, takes a whole lot of heart. Playing the final set was undoubtedly grueling for both competitors; however, because Federer just happened to serve the first game of the set (Roddick ended the previous set by winning his service game), the pressure was always on Roddick. Once the match was 5-5, as long as Roger kept winning his own service games (he had a career-best 50 aces in the match—his serve was on), if Roddick lost his serve, he lost the match. From 5-5, Roger won his service game to make it 6-5, and Roddick had to win the next game or the championship is lost. He continued to win his service games with ease, even knowing a loss would mean 2nd place. In the end, Federer was able to break Pete Sampras’s record of 14 Grand Slam titles.

It’s hard to believe Roddick has only won a single Grand Slam (the 2003 U.S. Open). He’s a great player, and a decent backhand short of being the best, and the only American currently on tour who has ever won a Grand Slam. His only crime was being born within a couple years of July 8th, 1981. This is, of course, Roger Federer’s birthday. Since 2004, only 2 Grand Slams have been won by someone not named Federer or Nadal. Frankly, there has never been a time with such dominating players. The 70s and 80s had Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander, Ivan Lendl, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, and Guillermo Vilas all competing for the world’s #1. In the 90s, it wasn’t all Pete Sampras; there was Agassi, there was Jim Courrier, Patrick Rafter, Stefan Edberg, and Gustavo Kuerten. But for the past half decade, there has been Federer, and, well Federer. 2009 isn’t even over, and Federer has already shattered the record of 12 Grand Slams in a single decade (shared by Sampras and Roy Emerson); keep in mind, Federer didn’t even win his first Grand Slam tournament until 2004.

Personally, I’m sick of the guy. I want to have more anticipation, I want to be able to ask, “Who do you think will win?” without feeling like Nostradamus, being able to predetermine the response. It’s no fun watching Federer stroll to the finals, losing only one set in the whole tournament. What’s entertaining is watching Roddick play five sets against veteran Lleyton Hewitt, because the outcome was so uncertain. I can’t wait until the days of Federer are over and thrilling runs by unexpected players will no longer be crushed by the Federer Express.