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Roger Federer's year, which began in tears before reaching the
heights, is over.
The man who finished as the No. 1 ranked player in the world
fell at the penultimate hurdle of the ATP World Tour Finals on
Saturday -- beaten for the first time in 13 meetings by Russia's
Nikolay Davydenko 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.
The last match of the ATP year will pit Davydenko against
U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, who offered further proof
of his rising status in the game by outlasting Sweden's Robin
Soderling in a forehand slugfest that went all the way down to the
wire after Soderling had led 4-2 in the final set. The Argentine
won it 6-7 (1), 6-3, 7-6 (3).
So Federer failed to give his flag-waving Swiss supporters --
and a large percentage of the capacity crowd -- what they craved.
It would have been fitting for the man many regard as the greatest
player of all time to grace the final of this superbly staged
event, but he found himself up against an opponent who simply
refused to capitulate.
Davydenko -- who missed the first three months of the season
through injury -- has confounded those who tend to underestimate
him by finishing with a flourish, winning ATP titles in Kuala
Lumpur and Shanghai and now overcoming the one man he could never
beat.
No one hits a cleaner ball. No one has a faster arm. The
forehand cross-court winner that caught Federer flat-footed when
the Swiss reached break point in the last game came out of nowhere
-- a stunning shot that was all about timing and speed.
Federer was asked if Davydenko gets the respect he deserves.
"Well, I don't know about you guys," he replied. "I have. I
think it's most important that he has respect from his fellow
players. I think he didn't have the easiest of time when people
were suspecting him of (betting on) the sport. He had a cloud over
his name which was not very fair. To be able to continue playing
this well when he was being asked always the same stupid questions
must not have been very easy for him. So I respect him not only for
that but, obviously, for the player he is."
Yet while there was no question that Davydenko deserved his
victory, Federer left us puzzling over just what this defeat meant.
There is no question that he has enjoyed an amazing year,
recovering from the emotional loss to Rafael Nadal in the
Australian Open final to win the French Open for the first time and
then Wimbledon, reaching the final of the U.S. Open and winning two
ATP Masters titles. Anyone would kill for such a record.
And yet ...
There is no doubt he should have beaten del Potro at Flushing
Meadows after playing the most glorious tennis for a set and a
half. Had he clinched the second, the match would have been over.
But he let del Potro back in and couldn't fight him off. Then, on
his return to the tour, he lost to Novak Djokovic in the final of
his hometown event in Basel, fell early in Paris and has looked
only fleetingly good here.
Where does this leave him? He insists the hunger is still
there and the pressure is off. If that is the case, talent alone
should carry him on to many more triumphs. But will the feeling
that he has nothing left to prove -- all four Slams in his pocket
and more Slam titles than Pete Sampras -- enable him to retain that
knack he had of pulling out the tight ones, of coming through in
the crunch?
Federer -- who still refuses to employ a full-time,
top-flight coach -- seems to know what he is doing wrong.
"I tried everything to have a good start but I wasn't able to
do it again so, sure, it's disappointing. I think a slow start has
cost me two out of the four matches here. You can't turn around
every match against the top guys because you don't have a cushion
anymore at the end. Things swing so quickly at the pace we play
at."
But he was in a mood to look on the bright side. "I still had
a great season," he said. "Looking at how deep the game is right
now, to finish on top for me is phenomenal."
How phenomenal 2010 proves to be for Roger Federer remains to
be seen.
Richard Evans, who commentated at Wimbledon on BBC Radio for 20
years, has been covering tennis since the 1960s and has reported on
more than 150 Grand Slams. He is the author of 15 books, including
the official history of the Davis Cup and the unofficial history of
the modern game in "Open Tennis." He lives in Florida but is still
on the tour 20 weeks in the year.
