Gstaad 2013: Is Roger Federer Set to Dominate?

The biggest coup for the organisers of the 2013 Credit Agricole Suisse Open in Gstaad must have been the acquisition of Roger Federer, 17-time major champion, among the ranks of its tennis warriors. Among the most picturesque of tournaments on the ATP World Tour, Gstaad, flanked by majestic Swiss mountains, could well be among the last places in the world one would imagine rough tennis combat.

Yet Federer enters clay-court Gstaad warring with some inner demons. He has had a subpar 2013, most recently highlighted by a stunning second-round loss at Wimbledon, which snapped his streak of 38 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances and was followed up last week by a worrying semifinal loss to qualifier Federico Delbonis at Hamburg. Sporting a new, larger racquet, he enters Gstaad in search of new light.

He will need to draw from any inspiration he can find at this near-hometown event—which he last played and won in 2004—for the imminent American hard-court season. The draw this week is perhaps slightly kinder than that which he faced in Hamburg.

He faces Daniel Brands in the first round again, but he will need only to win the one to reach the quarterfinals, where might play Victor Hanescu, the last man he beat at Wimbledon. Juan Monaco or Mikhail Youzhny are potential semifinal match-ups, both with serious clay-court credentials.

On the other side of the draw any one of Stanislas Wawrinka, Janko Tipsarevic, Marcel Granollers or even Federico Delbonis could stand between Federer and a second Gstaad title. Of course, what was once taken for truth is now a caveat: if he should make it to the final.

Many rash words have been spilt on the fact that Federer may have struggled in adapting to his new 98-inch racquet last week, but this time, in Gstaad, he might have a better feel for it. Early indications so far are that this change can only be, in the long-run, a good thing for Federer.

His loss to Delbonis, and much of the patchy play in Hamburg is also equally attributable to a sort of mental fatigue born of prolonged competitive focus at the very highest levels. Let us not forget that Federer's 2013 season, while much more disappointing a season than he has had in recent years, shapes up well as a typical top-10 season. He is still certainly among the very best players of this sport. 

Which means to say that it would be entirely unsurprising, if he should cow his next four opponents out of the Swiss highlands.