Wimbledon 2012: Can Federer Overcome Djokovic, Nadal and Inconsistency to Win?

Of all the people who have picked up a tennis racket, no one has used it to create more beauty and artistry than Roger Federer.

Beautiful is often the adjective used to describe Federer's game: Effortlessly floating around the court to whip impossible shots at an angle and to a location only he could.

And though the beauty of his game remains—after all these years he knows no other way to play—the masterpieces he regularly created have been reduced to painful struggles against time, age and the realities of the new tennis hierarchy.

Federer is still capable of dazzling play. Remember it was him, not Rafael Nadal, who came closest to downgrading Novak Djokovic's historic 2011 season from an all-time great season to a very good season.

Federer provided Djokovic with his first loss of the season in the 2011 French Open semifinals. Later in the year, in the semifinals of the U.S. Open, Federer held several match points before ultimately succumbing and losing to Djokovic in five sets.

That Federer, on the down slope of his career, nearly beat Djokovic—a player in his absolute prime and having one of the best seasons in tennis history—twice in Grand Slam semifinals shows that Federer is still capable of producing top-notch tennis.

And though the ability to play elite tennis remains, it has become increasingly difficult for Federer to reach those levels like he used to. Consistency, it seems, is the first thing to go once your prime has passed you by.

It used to be that Federer could go months without playing a bad set, let alone a bad match. But that level of consistency is no longer attainable for Federer.

He no longer dominates matches with perfectly timed service aces and winners. He is less capable of forcing his opponents in to errors. And his forehand—once the best and most reliable shot in tennis—often abandons him at critical junctures as Federer hits balls long or drops into the net.

Federer in his prime won matches on his terms. He dictated the play and almost always won regardless of how well his opponent played. 

This version of Federer is not that player. Federer can no longer win matches on his talent alone. Especially not at Grand Slam events where he needs to win seven best-of-five matches. 

And though Federer has often been at his best when playing at Wimbledon, he has lost in the quarterfinals in each of the past two years.

There are times when Federer appears poised to capture another Grand Slam title. He will occasionally play like he did in his younger days: A bounce in his step and some extra juice on his shots. But whenever it's Djokovic or Nadal across the net, Federer is unable to muster the full arsenal necessary to dethrone the current alpha dogs of the tennis world.

Going into Wimbledon 2012, the reality is that Federer can only win if he gets some help from the field. Beating Djokovic and Nadal in consecutive matches is too tall a task for Federer at this stage in his career. 

His best chance of capturing a 17th Grand Slam title likely depends on avoiding at least one of his two main rivals. With Djokovic and Nadal playing at extremely high levels, it is unlikely either would lose before the semifinals.

Maybe Federer has one last run in him. If he does, Wimbledon would seem the place to do it. It would be a great story and a stellar achievement to overcome Djokovic and Nadal. Just don't count on it.