For a man who reached the final at 11 of 17 tournaments in 2015, winning six, that too in a year he celebrated his 34th birthday, Roger Federer sounded surprisingly subdued as he launched his new season in Brisbane.
"It would be amazing to win another grand slam," said the Swiss, when asked about his three-and-a-half-year major drought. He reached two finals in 2015 – at Wimbledon and the US Open – and on both occasions, finished second-best to Novak Djokovic in four sets.
Federer’s 17th and last grand slam title came in 2012, when he beat home favourite Andy Murray in the Wimbledon final and his fans have been waiting since.
“It might happen and if not, I’m OK with that,” added Federer about his chances of winning grand slam No 18. “I’m still happy with how I am playing. I came so close and played very well, but I don’t feel any frustration about that.
“I’ve won so much in my career. There are so many other goals to achieve too.”
The Swiss was, probably, hinting about an Olympics singles gold when he talked about those “other goals”. He did win the doubles gold, alongside Stan Wawrinka, in 2008 Beijing, but lost to Murray in the singles final four years later in London.
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So the Olympics will certainly be at the top of his list for 2016, but that does not mean he will be any less focussed at the grand slams.
In 2015, all his five defeats in finals came against Djokovic, including two grand slams, two Masters 1000 (Indian Wells and the Italian Open) and the year-ending World Tour Finals.
Those defeats to Djokovic have clearly played a part in Federer’s decision to add Croat Ivan Ljubicic to his coaching team, a fact that is very obvious to the world No 1.
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“He [Ljubicic] knows my game, he knows the game of all Roger’s opponents, and I think that’s one of the reasons why Roger has hired him to be with him on the team,” Djokovic said in Doha, ahead of the Qatar Open.
So, his fans can rest assured. Federer has not given up just yet. He is planning and being patient, waiting to pounce should Djokovic drop his levels.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see Federer win another grand slam,” Pat Cash, the 1987 Wimbledon champ, said in Abu Dhabi last week. “I think it’s almost guaranteed that he’ll reach a grand slam final and in a final, anything can happen.
“Djokovic had to play his best tennis to beat him at Wimbledon and particularly at the US Open, with 20,000 people screaming for Federer. If he plays five per cent less, Federer wins. There’s a good chance that Novak is going to play five per cent less at some stage.”
There is hope then. Federer fans will be hoping the law of averages catches up with Djokovic sometime soon.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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