Roger's Worries, Rafa's Glories....

There are a lot of things that appear to matter when Roger Federer plays Rafael Nadal. Statistics, personal scores to settle on-the-court and of course the fans’ idea of retribution; each terminology takes on a new meaning when these two face-off against each other, in any part of the tennis world.

When the Australian Open 2012 draw was announced and it came to light that Roger and Rafa were pitted against each other as potential semi-finalists, fans exhilarated and worried equally. The former because, the match would be a classic – in recent times a ‘Fedal’ match has started to be referred as the el classico of tennis – while the latter on account of Roger’s continued misery against the Spaniard.

And with each passing opponent that both brushed away like skittles, the excitement multiplied. It seemed inevitable – both were on a collision course – and looked for the first time, as if the Swiss might have gained that elusive upper-hand as he won the initial rounds without losing even a single set. To his credit, Rafa did not face much trouble either. His only tough match was against Czech Tomas Berdych, whom he successfully whittled in a nail-biting four-setter. Thus the stage was set; the players were well aware of each other well as opponents while the momentum felt as if it could swing either way.

Roger took the first set, though he would be the first one to say that he hadn’t taken it as convincingly as he would have wanted himself to. He held a 4-1 lead, squandered it and ended up pushing the set to a tie-break. Faring slightly better in the tie-break he notched himself one-love up on the scoreboard.

First game second set, Rafa found himself broken. He however broke Roger back immediately, held his serve and ground firmly and broke Roger twice more to equalise things at one-set all. Third set as again, Roger broke first, Rafa broke again; game went into a tie-break, Rafa held five set points, Roger came from behind only to end up giving the set to Rafa, seven points-to-five in the tie-break. After that, it pretty much appeared to be a matter of time before Rafa routed Federer out and headed into his second Australian Open final, after a gap of four years. The Spaniard took the set and resultantly the match – three sets to one – 6-4 in the fourth, seriously denting Roger Federer’s chances of winning his fifth Australian Open title and in the process, his morale.

Morale because Federer was coming into the match with a 24-0 undefeated streak; a streak that saw him win three back-to-back tournaments towards the end of the 2011 season. He had defeated Rafa convincingly in one of those tournaments in straight sets and the winning of this semi-final encounter would have been the perfect consolidation to that victory. Punters and experts had still given Roger the title of a favourite and looking at his wins against Argentinean Del Potro and the resilient Australian teenager Tomic, the Swiss did appear to be justifying the immeasurable faith put on him. But there was a huge difference in the Roger Federer who played in the initial rounds and the Roger Federer who played on the 26^th January 2012 on Rod Laver. The difference being that, that the latter manifesto of the Swiss failed to capitalise and close out points that he managed with successful ease against those two players. While he was able to break his opponent’s serve, he failed to consolidate his serve, allowing himself to let go of the break and at times, the lead so painstakingly gained.

How this factor of ‘failure to close’ will affect Roger Federer’s game this season remains to be seen. It’s just the start of 2012 and three more grand slam tournaments are still to come the Swiss’ way along with the Olympics at London. These windows of opportunities coupled with the fact that Roger has still not lost the keen sense of desire to win majors will and should make a difference. In the meantime, for the moment, it’s the drawing board that beckons Roger Federer with a greater urgency – to re-chalk his game and regain his mental perspectives completely.