Roger on the Move

Roger Federer regained his World No 2 ranking last week in Toronto. But he lost to Murray in a rain-interrupted final. He looked in better shape last week. Today, he enters Cincinnati Masters as the defending champion. With US open just more than a week away, there is very less time for Federer to regroup and regain his lost momentum. He was nearly unbeatable in US open for 5 years till Del Potro defeated him in the marathon final last year. Does Federer has any realistic chance of winning US open?

At the age of 29, Federer needs to be more accurate to compensate for his lost agility. The serve seems to have lost some of the sting it had during his years at the top. This was quite evident in his final loss to Murray in Toronto 2 days back. The ease with which Murray repeatedly broke Federer's serve was appalling. In a fast court like US open, the accuracy and speed of serve plays a major role as most points won with serve. Federer certainly needs to fine tune his serve. These are the areas which Federer needs to fight within himself.

There are opponents who feared once upon a time facing Federer. Same guys are increasingly confident of beating Federer nowadays. The list includes Nadal, Murray, Soderling, Berdych, Del Potro, Djokovic to name a few. These guys, except Nadal, were repeatedly beaten up by Federer in the Grandslams few years back. Federer having started using his backhand more often now gives power hitters enough fodder to pounce on his returns. Now reaching semi finals of a grand slam has not been a formality for Federer.

Rogers Masters at Toronto revealed that Murray, Djokovic and Berdych are confident of stretching Federer in even the fastest courts. The Cincinnati Masters which is presently underway will give more insight as to where Federer stands in the favorite list to lift the US open crown. Having said that, I feel all is not lost for Federer as yet. He has hired a new coach, Annacone, who has the experience of coaching champions like Pete Sampras.

I feel that self-doubt which comes with age is the only problem Federer is facing at present. If he overcomes that, he has it in him to lift few more slams and even reach World No 1 again. Federer was in similar situation in 2008. He bounced back superbly to lift 2 slams in 2009 besides reaching the finals of the other two. Further, he is the reigning Australian open champion.

These facts are enough to motivate Federer to have another go at the US open. I expect stiff fight for Federer to reach even the semi final of US open. Having watched Federer all these years, I feel that he has it in him to emerge victorious in the second week of September. The tennis fans are, nevertheless, going to have a treat yet again for a couple of weeks from August 30th. I am eager to join the fun cheering for the one and only Roger Federer.