Oh Roger Roger….it’s not that difficult!!

It can’t get worse than this. Mind you, it’s not about clay, it’s not about the mononucleosis he contracted at the beginning of this year..and no, this time it’s not even about Rafa. Agreed that Rafa, as usual, played some magical shots. But even then this final is more about the lackluster performance of Roger Federer, ironically the world no.1 for last 4 years, than anything else.
As a Federer fan I have always believed that he is just one good performance away from that elusive French crown. But after such a horrible display I doubt whether that man himself believes that he can beat Rafa on clay or not. Today he was simply pathetic and pathetic is just not the adjective one dares to use for Roger’s game. Yet he left so little for Rafa to do that after he clinched the title, for 4th time in a row, there were no typical Rafael Nadal celebrations. Just hands in air and that was it. More than the spectators, more than Roger it was Rafa, I think, who was the most astonished one by the manner in which Roger faulted, faulted and again faulted and in the process handed him an easy title.
As I said earlier it’s not about the external factors. Those inner demons, they are not allowing Roger to play at his best. I seriously doubt whether he is able to imagine himself defeating Rafa on clay or not. Because that’s the first step. You got to believe & visualize yourself achieving your goal. Then only your discipline, hard work and regimentation will fall in place in order to make the execution possible. It pained so much when one after another he kept hitting those regulation winners in the net, when he consistently failed to score off his second serves. First or second, Roger Federer’s serve is regarded as one of the best on the men’s circuit. It is such a potent weapon that his serve alone made the difference in the last year’s Wimbledon final. Even if one discounts the difference in the pace of grass & clay surfaces, that serve is still extremely capable. But today he had completely lost it.
For a brief passage of play, though, in the second set he took control of the match. And he looked a totally different player. Finding incredible angles, putting the ball in the right places with pinpoint accuracy, he succeeded in raising false hopes. But as soon as he was broken in the 8th game of the 2nd set it looked as if he wasn’t interested anymore. His strokes, at best, can be described as wayward. He tried coming to the net and few other tactics but those were desperate moves with no conviction whatsoever. Eventually he lost the third set 6-0!!
Agreed that you know tennis better than us, still Roger, you are better than that man..much much better!!