Gerry Weber Open 2012: Roger Federer's Loss Will Cripple Star's Confidence

The Gerry Weber Open was Roger Federer's opportunity to prove he has what it takes to win as Wimbledon looms just days away. Rafael Nadal had bowed out early, and the road was paved for a Federer victory.

Instead, he suffered a shocking loss to Tommy Haas 7-6 (5), 6-4, and instead of silencing the critics, he only fed more fuel to their doubt-filled fire.

It's no secret that Federer needed a win—some kind of win, any kind of win—following his resounding defeat at the hands of Novak Djokovic in the French Open semifinals. Neither he nor Djokovic looked particularly dominant at Roland Garros, but Djokovic, at least, managed to drudge up some competitive juices in time for the semis. Federer, meanwhile, fell apart.

And then he fell apart again against 34-year-old Haas a week later, on grass, his surface of choice. So, what does that mean for his confidence level heading into Wimbledon?

It's been clear over the last year or so that Federer hasn't been able to contend with Nadal or Djokovic, and at Halle—with both of them off the table—he still couldn't get the job done. So now what? Does he have the upset of all upsets stored up inside him, just waiting to emerge at Wimbledon?

That looked unlikely during the French Open semis. Now—after Federer has missed another opportunity, this time to the oldest player in the singles draw, a player who hasn't beaten him in over 10 years—it looks more unlikely than ever.

Even at 30, Federer has been able to hang in their with his younger counterparts in Nadal and Djokovic. He's been able to make it to the final stages of the majors, like he did at Roland Garros, and because of that, he's been able to maintain his No. 3 worldwide ranking.

He's going to need to do that again at Wimbledon in order to maintain his standing, and as the pressure amplifies, he has no choice but to try to just tune it out, even as it looks more and more likely that he might just be out of gas. As he told The Oregonian's Douglas Perry:

"

I don't feel like if I don't win this one, you know, it's a missed opportunity or whatever it is. … It's going to be a great tournament. I want to enjoy it, not just crumble under pressure and just talk about that if I don't win. That's not how I see it. Any medal would be a good one, but obviously in my situation, I've got to aim for gold.

"

Lately, Federer has seemed frustrated and full of excuses after his losses. He's aware of the pressure and he's trying this best to ignore it, but after this weekend's events, that just became much more difficult.

After this, there are no excuses. After this, the pressure is on to win at Wimbledon, plain and simple.