Roger Federer: Trio of Young Stars Will Blank Fed-Ex in Grand Slams This Year

Roger Federer's quest for a 17th Grand Slam title won't just be stymied by nemesis Rafael Nadal this year.

He has Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray to worry about now, too.

Frankly, Djokovic looks as though he could repeat his ridiculous 2011 this year. And what is even more frightening is that both Murray and Nadal played well enough to beat Djokovic but couldn't persevere quite as long as the world's top-ranked player.

The level of the top four players in the world is incredible this year, and after the Australian Open, Federer might be fairly judged as the fourth-best of those players.

There's no question that Djokovic and Nadal are playing at a level higher than Federer. Dating back to 2011, Federer is 1-8 in his last nine matches against the two.

But I can hear Fed-Ex fans moaning now: How could you say Murray is better than Federer? Murray hasn't even won a Grand Slam title yet!

It's a fair point.

But Murray seemed like a more mature player than we've seen in the past in his semifinal loss to Djokovic, keeping his composure throughout the match even after being wiped off the court in the fourth set, 6-1. He then staged an admirable comeback after trailing 5-2 in the final set before finally falling to the Djoker, 7-5.

Murray has now advanced to five straight Grand Slam semifinals (he played in the 2011 Australian Open Final), and if his performances this year are any indication—he's 10-1 thus far and won the Brisbane International—his new coach Ivan Lendl has him looking strong in 2012.

Roger Federer is by no means a less-than-elite player. But given how incredibly talented Djokovic, Nadal and Murray are, it seems hard to imagine that Federer will win a Grand Slam title in 2012.

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