Australia Open: Why Roger Federer Won't Reach the Semifinals

Roger Federer has put together an amazing tennis career. But after this year's Australian Open, it will become clear he is on the downhill portion of his career. 

Here's a quick look at three reasons why Federer won't make the semis in Australia this year. 

Back Problems

Federer was forced to pull out of his semifinal match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Qatar Open last week. 

According to Federer, it was back spasms and he just wanted to avoid further injury. He said he would be back for the Australian Open.

Still though, back problems aren't exactly the type of thing to go away in one week. There's no guaranteeing the injury won't surface again once Federer gets back into action. 

Whatever the case, it's unlikely he'll be at 100 percent and his play will suffer.

Age

Coinciding with his injury problems, Federer isn't getting any younger. He turned 30-years-old this past August.

That's very far from actually being "old," but there are plenty of younger guys he'll have to go up against.

Federer has been on a downhill slide the last couple of years, and he's clearly no longer the best player out there. His age, which makes it that much harder to bounce back in down years, will continue to highlight that.

Location

Over his career, the Australian Open has been Federer's second worst Grand Slam Tournament.

Of course, that's like saying pepperoni is the second worst type of pizza, but it's true nonetheless (the Federer part, not the pizza part). 

Federer reached the semis in Australia last year, but that was his worst finish there in four years. He's clearly on his way down. 

David Ferrer has been good in Australia, Rafael Nadal still has Federer's number, Andy Murray has been good in Australia and Novak Djokovic is Novak Djokovic.

Federer won't be able to get past any of those four.