Some (Roger)things of 2010 I would like to keep and some others I would rather leave behind

Another long and intense season is over, and now it’s time to look behind to what happened during the year (RE: Roger Federer). It was a sort of a rollercoaster year for Fed and his supporters: it started up and ended in great fashion, with the amazing wins in Melbourne and London (and, what’s more important, with the out-of-this-world type of tennis he played in those two events), but what took place in the middle was…well, you know how it was.

However, there are lots of things to be remembered about this year…and others that I would not like to bring with us in 2011. Here’s a short and not comprehensive (I tried to mix it up a bit, including both “serious” and shallow matters) list.

Good stuff first:

1) Pride (In the Name of Love)

Truth is that, when I look back to this past year, the first thing that I think of it’s not how many trophies Fed (or anyone else on the ATP Tour, for what it matters) has lifted, but it’s his attitude in the last months (i.e. after Wimbledon). 2008 was the year of struggle, of the so-called regicide and of the many declaration of death of the “old” King; after that, 2009 was all about redemption, resurgence, happiness, GOATness and becoming reconciled and at peace with one self. Emotionally, I thought we had it all. I was wrong. In 2010, we had pride and love: the pride of a champion who, albeit having already everything both in his professional career and in his personal life, doesn’t want to step back and with great humbleness seeks for external help (BTW, I love you, Paul Annacone) and tries out new things; love…well, love for tennis is the reason behind all this, the primary source of all this motivation, eagerness and devotion. The same motivation some “tennis expert” keep questioning all the time (as a matter of fact, I thought of titling this paragraph “Pride and Prejudice”, but then I decided that U2 were far more appropriate…plus, probably Jane Austen wouldn’t have approved to be linked to such “writers” and “journalists”). However, who cares about them? Roger Federer has showed, once again, that no one plays tennis better than him, and no one loves the sport more than him.

2) I have to play aggressive, no?

Yes, I am quoting a Rafa catchline, but only because it fits pretty well to describe what happened with Roger’s game in the last six months.

In the past few years, one of the most recurring topic in tennis world was Federer’s aggression on court and – let’s say it – the issue was often approached rather superficially: every now and then, everyone liked to drop sentences like “Federer should be more aggressive”, “he should come to the net more”, like it was some sort of magical solution to every problem. Truth is that things are a lot more complicated than that. In contemporary tennis, aggression is often a dangerous path. It must be a very “well thinked” and “reasonable” aggression, otherwise it can turn into humiliation. Federer’s possibility and capacity of aggression depend first of all on his physical condition and, mentally, from his confidence in his game. For long periods, both of those were just gone, together with Roger’s ability to take the ball early, which is the core of aggression in his game. In the second part of 2010, he rebuilt this type of play, grounding it on those elements and changing many things, especially on the two strokes that start the point: the serve (see point 5 of this list) and the return (raise your hand if you’re loving the aggressive backhand return finally hit with topspin! *raises her hand*).

Obviously, we can’t really say what’s the actual part of Paul Annacone in all this process, but I’ll just say I’m happy he is there.

3) Sunday the 7^th of November, 2010

It was a day just like any other, then this happened:

(so much for not caring about the non-Slam tournaments)

and this, too:

Federfans all over the world were holding back tears.

4) Backhand lovefests

The two most important victories of 2010 have something in common: they both featured an incredible display of perfect backhands. In the last acts of the Australian Open and of the WTF, Federer faced Murray and Nadal: the two players who, among all the ATP pros, can trouble him more on the left diagonal. But not this time. In both matches, Roger’s backhand was rock solid, and not only he didn’t get in trouble when the rallies were mainly on that side of the court, but – on the contrary – he often turned the situation to his advantage.

In Australia, he outplayed Murray at the Scot’s favourite game, the tactics. I lost count of how many times he executed flawlessly the “crosscourt backhand followed by a down-the-line backhand” combination (minute 1:35)

In London, Federer’s usual struggles with his one-handed bh on Nadal supervamostopspin forehands looked like a vague memory, when we saw him jumping on those kind of balls and hitting shots like this.


5) Saint Serve

Everyone knows how important is it for Federer (and how it will get more and more important with the years) to hold his serve easily e to get some “free” points directly with this shot. Conscious of this, and finally free from the back problems of the last couple of years, Roger worked a lot on his serve: he modified a bit his movement, he took more risks with his second serve and he improved his wide serve from the deuce court, which was absolutely lethal during the indoor season.

When he serves that well, the world suddenly seems a better place.

6) Pink, it was love at first sight

In a year during which we witnessed every kind of fashion horrors (Nadal and Venus, plus the “usual suspects” Stepanek and Rezai, just to name a few), one can only appreciate Nike’s efforts to try something new and more original, though still classic, for Roger. Personally, I loved all of them: the pink, the lilac and the orange. Judging by the previews of the AO outfit, it looks like we will get more of these in 2011.

7) Hit 4 Haiti (not the awkward one)

In many ways, it was the best promotional image for tennis: the best players all on one court, being silly and not taking themselves seriously + charity + a great crowd. It was good fun to watch. Oh, did I mention that the whole thing was born from an idea of Roger “the great humanitarian” Federer? Pity that in Indian Wells things didn’t turn out as pretty as in Australia.

Now, happy after recalling all the nice memories, let’s go down the “scary” part. I’m sorry, but we have to do it, we have to exorcise these demons and…oh, whatever, I just need to rant about a few things and take them out of my system!

1) Just win this ONE f***ing point!

Roger, I love you, but FOUR matches in a year lost after having match point? Seriously? I would even quote JMac and his famous “you cannot be serious”, if it wasn’t the most overused line in tennis.

I’ll just say three words: MAKE. IT. STOP. *evil glare* And when I say evil glare I mean Maria Sharapova-like evil glare. (btw, I have no idea of who made this gif, but full credit to him/her, and thanks! It's awesome!).

2) Forehand dropshot

Maybe it’s just me, but several times during this year I found myself shouting at the TV because of this new mania of Roger: when he has a nice and “easy” ball in his half court, which is just waiting for him to hammer it with his “kaboom” forehand (usually down the line) from that position, he chooses instead to use some sort of forehand dropshot. Although I was delighted when in 2009 Roger finally discovered the existence of the dropshot, well…I would appreciate a more – let’s say – sparing use of this particular kind of it.

Probably I was not very clear, so here there are a few exhibits of what I’m talking about
A) beginning of the year (jump to minute 4:02). Yes, it was a fraking Grand Slam C’ship point.
B) half way trough the year (minute 8:30) 
C) final part of the year (minute 13:30). I love the commentator’s reaction, by the way. I’m sure a very similar sound came out of my mouth, too. (Together with a lot of swear words, of course.)

3) And the Award goes to…

Ok, maybe this one is not really about Federer, but rather about WHO won the award in his place.

I’m talking about the Stefan Edberg Sportmanship Award. ‘Nuff said.

4) Trophy lifting

No, I’m not talking about this year’s ratio between finals played and victories (although that might have deserved a place in this list too), but about Roger’s actual technique in lifting trophies. One thinks that, after having done it 66 times, he should be pretty good at it, but already since last year I noticed some flaws in this particular art:

I thought maybe it was just because it was a first time with that particular trophy, but then it happened again this year:

(lifting the trophy and the koala at the same time??? LOL!)

(take it from the bottom, Roger, from the bottom!).

Let’s hope next year he will have a lot more occasions to improve his technique.

5) Don’t win the game don’t win the game…Alejandro…

I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe: attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion, ALEJANDRO FALLA SERVING FOR THE MATCH AGAINST FEDERER IN WIMBLEDON.

Geez, that was creepy and disturbing and shocking and heart-stopping (not in a pleasant way), beyond any imagination. Months later, thinking back to that match you can still feel that kind of “end of the world” feeling.

6) Breathe in breathe out.

This is what I often keep telling to myself during particularly tense moments of a match, but in this case I’m referring to Federer’s lung infection in February. Obviously that wasn’t the only reason of his poor performances in the spring, but it surely affected him, messing up with his preparation and stopping him from carrying on the momentum from the Australian Open.

The mono in 2008, the back problems in 2009 and this in 2010: it looks like that period of the year has become pretty unlucky for Roger. When February 2011 comes, please cross your fingers and say your prayers.

7) Ahahahahahahahahah, with Montanes? Really? Ahahahahahahah, funny....NOT.

Seriously, that was painful to watch, even if it was just a 250 event.  

HAPPY 2011 TO EVERYONE!!!