Roger Federer: Loss at Gerry Web Latest Example FedEx Beginning to Break Down

Roger Federer is still capable of winning a Grand Slam title, but evidence is beginning to mount that the 2010 Australian Open may be his last ever triumph on the sports grandest stage.

After losing to Novak Djokovic yet again, this time at the French Open, he fell to unranked Tommy Haas 7-6, 6-4 in the Gerry Weber Open finals.

Federer hadn’t lost to Haas in almost a decade, and had previously won the event five times in his career.  You can’t blame age either as the 87th-ranked Haas is four years older than the 30-year-old Federer. Haas entered the year on the outside looking in on the Top 200!

Sure the fatigue of playing in a Grand Slam event the previous two weeks was a factor, but that doesn’t discount the gradual decline of FedEx’s play over the last 18 months.

His foot speed seems to simply not be up to par with where it was a few years ago, as we see the natural progression of Father Time kick in. While he stays in tremendous shape to survive at a tournament well into the second week, his ability to find that extra gear in the later sets has vanished.

Next up is the Grand Slam event that Federer is most comfortable at. He has six career Wimbledon titles, with only Pete Sampras (seven) owning more.

Yet it’s hard to picture a scenario where Federer is able to fend off the twin terrors of tennis right now in Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. They are the two opponents to knock him out of Wimbledon in the last two years and absolutely nothing has changed.

They seem to have that extra something in the tank in the later rounds that Federer has lost. Even in the quarterfinals at Roland Garros against Juan Martin del Potro, he was on the ropes before injury and fatigue gave Federer the win.

Federer reminds me of Tiger Woods in the way fans expect to see the greatness of previous years return and believe each and every major tournament is going to be their breakthrough back to victory. Yet time continues to tick and the results aren’t changing.

The pressure is mounting and Federer’s biological clock continues to run.

Federer is arguably the greatest tennis player ever to grace a tennis court, but with each passing week the evidence that Federer will never win again has become too hard to ignore.

Federer is currently ranked No. 3 in the world, and I have a feeling that’s the highest he will ever be moving forward.

It’s been an incredible career, but it’s time to start lowering the expectations for each Grand Slam event. Federer’s window on major tournaments has come to a close.

Follow Eric Ball on Twitter.