With Darren Cahill, the former coach of Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt, announcing that he has decided to step down from his coaching position for Australia’s Davis Cup team, citing "business and personal reasons", the well circulating murmurs about the Roger Federer's dire need of a Coach has come under scrutiny.
Coaching Roger is not an easy job, not just metaphorically. The story of Federer's coaches speak a story of their own.
After parting ways with Peter Lundgren, who helped him win the first of his five straight titles at the Champions at SW19 barely a month before winning the Australian Open in 2004, Federer went mentor-less through the year which saw his rise to the top of the men's circuit.
In 2005, Federer at his peak hired Aussie Tony Roche, one of the best coaches of the time and stuck up a highly successful partnership that yielded 192 wins from 205 matches, 25 titles including six majors in just a little more than 2 seasons.
But after winning the Oz open (without so much as dropping a set) and Dubai Championships in 2007, the Swiss No. 1 went title-less for four tournaments in a row (the driest patch of his carrier at that time), and out of the blue, Federer dropped the dungbomb, sacking the Sydney-sider quoting 'deteriorating communication matters' between the two, adding that he would not be rushed into finding a replacement for Roche, leaving the European lobby for Cahill to wait.
For the rest of the season (which saw the Swiss defend most of his major titles), Federer lived on minus a coach.
After Roche's sacking, Cahill had been tagged the next best man for the Swiss star. Yet, it has been nearly two years since the South Australian parted ways and Federer still has not found a steady coach for himself.
In 2008, while already coaching American Robby Ginepri, Spaniard and Clay court specialist Jose Higueras was hired by the then World Number 1 to help him during the clay court season.
It wasn't a very fruitful decision and the Partnership wasn't extended for long and soon after winning the US Open, the ties were severed and Federer has been coachless since.
It is true that Federer is an anomaly when it comes to his approach to tennis. He is just our normal guy next door who doesn't seem to feel that knowing to hit a yellow ball over a net grants him the privilege of pulling airs.
Yet, Federer is an extremely proud man and in a way, a self-admirer who has not shied away from admitting his own amazement at the kind of shots he manages to pull off. And True enough, viewers are left even more dazed at his repertoire.
To be fair to him, the Swiss doesn't need much work and innovation in his game or his fitness. He's able to easily go five sets with anybody and look and apparently feel fresh enough to go maybe for two more.
Moreover, not only has he the most complete game in Men's tour, he has extraordinary command over his shots and even today, many of his opponents.
But, there is a snag in the case. Federer's problems today are his mental demons against a certain 22-year old who has the surname of Nadal. Today, as have been said umpteen times, Federer has a mental block against Nadal, which was clearly visible in the Australian Open loss—a match he could have won as easily as he lost it.
There's also the matter of reptilian media and public opinion, an issue which is clearly a sensitive one for Federer. At this point in time, an aggressive 'let's move forward' motivator is what Federer needs to get on with his game and try stem his vulnerability against Rafael Nadal.
Most importantly, this work will be done behind the scenes, which would also help avoid being riled by public distractions.
So far, neither Cahill or Federer have made any comments, but as a devout fan of the Swiss, the writer here feels that at this juncture of his career, perhaps no one can help him better than the no-nonsense Australian, who helped a 30+ Andre Agassi and fellow-Australian (and much younger, needless to say) Lleyton Hewitt into glories.
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