Roger Federer: 'Twas The Unforced Errors What Done Him In

Alternative Title: The Day That Roger Federer Almost Gave Me a Heart Attack...

Well...I am in utter shock and disbelief. I have literally just this moment finished watching the semi-final match between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the Miami Masters. I cannot for the life of me work out what I have just witnessed with my own eyes...

Roger completely lost control of his forehand, 'bleeding unforced errors' as the commentator so kindly put it.

The result? A loss to Novak: 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.

I know that there are bound to be lots of articles coming out as a result of this match, but I just feel the need to write something down myself. A form of therapy for a devoted Roger fan, shall we say?

Anyway, back to the match and I think it is fair to say that the scoreline doesn't really tell the full story. So let's go back to the beginning...

My hopes were high for Roger in this match. Here was a semi-final where there would be no Andy Murray on the other side of the net. Always a positive thing for Roger and his fans.

Secondly, Rafael Nadal has already been knocked out in the quarter-finals i.e. here was a perfect opportunity for Roger to try and win another Masters trophy (the Swiss maestro has been going through a bit of a dry spell in the Masters department, having not won the trophy at one of these events for the past 18 months).

Finally, Novak Djokovic has not been playing his best tennis this year. Ok, so I hear you Nole fans shouting that he just knocked out Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarters (against whom he had a 1-4 losing record) but even you have to admit that he has had a very up and down last couple of months.

And of course, Roger has a winning record over the Djoker; 7-2 in the head-to-heads for Roger before this match. So I was sure that there would be no mental issues for Roger in this match up...

The match actually got off to a terrific start for Roger. "Yesssssss!'" I thought. "This is going splendidly well. He's going to pull this off in two sets."

I spoke too soon methinks.

First set.

At one point Roger was 5-1 up against Novak in the first set. He wasn't particularly playing his best tennis but Novak was clearly struggling. In fact, Novak wouldn't even need to tell you how miserable he was feeling as you could clearly read his every thought just by looking at his facial expressions.

At this point even the commentators were suggesting that Novak's coach would be shaking in his boots and wondering whether his contract would be renewed if his man continued to play like this

Luckily for Novak's fans, he started to get a grip of himself. He managed to reduce Roger's advantage from two to one break of serve. But although Roger was a little shaky, he managed to close out the set 6-3.

Second set.

This was just messy all round. At the beginning it looked as though Djokovic was in command, breaking Federer's serve and taking a 2-0 lead—pumping his chest and looking euphoric. But Federer managed to break back and it began to feel like no man was certain to hold on to his own service games.

However, Djokovic remained the more solid player and a couple of double faults and more and more unforced errors from Federer spelt catastrophe for the former world number one. It was beginning to look like a familiar story—Federer wins the first set and then loses the next two—but I told myself to stay positive.

Final  Set

Surely that Second set was all just a bad dream?

Unfortunately not.

The final set can only be described as abysmal if you are a Federer fan. I, for one, could barely watch.

Djokovic managed to get off to a 4-0 lead in the final set. This was not because he was playing particularly well, but because Federer's forehand was consistently netting or going long/wide.

The most famously lethal forehand in tennis history had gone caput. All Djokovic had to do was put the ball back into play and wait for the error—it was certain to come.

As the third set continued, the number of unforced errors coming off Federer's racquet was going up like crazy. Roger, a man known for his calm, composed and collected exterior on court, couldn't take it any more.

With his anger reaching boiling point, he finally gave in to his frustrations and ferociously smashed up his racquet. (I believe that even Marat Safin would have been proud of how fiercely Roger destroyed that racquet.)

I hoped that having let out his anger Roger would be able to calm down, collect his thoughts, and start to play a bit better.

And he did to a degree.

Novak played a poor fifth game in the third set to allow Federer to get a break back. The forehand was not quite as appalling as it had been but it was still not enough. Roger did make a valiant effort to try and get back into the final set but Djokovic remained solid.

With a total unforced error count of 47 in the 1 hour 46 minute match, Federer handed over victory to his opponent. Djokovic served it out to take the final set 6-3—and I felt like crying.

So now, as well as having to fight those mental demons which take the form of Murray and Nadal, Roger will have to try and account for why his unforced error count is consistently becoming a big problem in important matches. And it is not just the backhand which is susceptible.

Today it was the forehand that was acting up. And the serve is still not working as it should—helping him to get out of any tight spots (which unfortunately are becoming a much more frequent occurence).

It will be interesting to hear what he has to say in the press conference.

Will he put it down to another bad day at the office? I sincerely hope not.

Being a huge fan of Roger's I hope this serves as a wake up call. He is not the same player he used to be. Of course, he still plays some fabulous tennis and I still favour him above all others, but things are going wrong more often now. This time it had nothing to do with the opponent.

I believe that Roger lost this match; Novak did not exactly win it.

Something definitely needs to change, but only time will tell whether Roger will admit this. (At this point I hear cries of "Get a Coach!" again!!)

N.B. On a completely different note I am also disappointed about the outcome of this match as it means that Murray will not be able to become the world No. 3 even if he wins the tournament. So it is a double "dang!" for me! (I'm a Brit.)