Roger Federer Knows How To Make His Life Really Difficult

Roger Federer knows how to make his life on the tennis court really difficult. Only Roger Federer goes out of his way to make it so.

On the eve of the biggest tournament in tennis, Andy Murray is extremely confident and totally relaxed about his prospects at Wimbledon and in particular against Roger—thanks to Roger Federer.

As Murray is fine-tuning his preparations for Wimbledon, he feels he has the edge should he meet Roger.

"I think it would be very different if I'd felt that when I played Roger in the past he wasn't giving it 100 percent or not trying against me. I think a lot of times he's been very frustrated when he's played against me, which has shown that the game style that I play against him works and can frustrate him.

"I'll definitely take confidence if I play against him at Wimbledon from the matches that I've played against him in the past."

In fact, Murray is so confident that even though he got thrashed by Federer in straight sets at the US Open, he only remembers all the times he beat Federer. "I feel like if I play against him I'll have a chance to win if I play my best. That's what I'll try and do if I play him at Wimbledon," he says.

If Roger were smart, he would make sure Murray remembers their US Open match. Murray is so boastful of his 6-2 match record against Federer, but if he looked at the sets won—12 to 10—he'll remember that the matches were very close, at least the ones that Murray won.

It all started early last year. After being beaten by Murray in Dubai, Federer quite uncharacteristically criticized his opponent's "defensive" playing style. Federer’s comments were totally uncalled for.

Clearly they rubbed Murray the wrong way, and in a way to make him a strong believer. Roger dearly paid for it, losing to Murray four times since then.

No wonder Murray regards Sampras as the best-ever grass-court player.

But where it matters the most is how Federer’s remarks and his losses to Murray may be helping to create another Rafael Nadal-like nemesis to him. Murray went on to say, "A lot of the times I've beaten him he has said negative things about my game, so it doesn't really bother me that much.

"Every time I've played against him, I've felt like I've had good chances to win, and I think my tactics against him have worked well in most of the matches that I've played. But it didn't make me feel I needed to change my game in any way.

"Maybe he meant them. Some things you don't mean [in those situations]. That happens sometimes, but it doesn't bother me."

That is quite some maturity and resolve from a 22 year old. And it is scary.

Would you rather face an opponent over whom you have a mental edge or one who has an edge over you? If the goal is to win, then don’t you want to win most effectively and assuredly? If Federer ends up losing to Murray, then he only has to blame himself for it—for unnecessarily roiling his young opponent into a resolute monster. Isn’t that making your life unnecessarily difficult?

Look at the contrast with Nadal. He gets beaten soundly by Robin Soderling, but he quickly nips any confidence boost by his opponents by diverting the whole attention away from his defeat on clay at RG to his knees. The whole world is too eager to run with zero facts and 100 percent speculation about his knee injury or tendonitis.

While they needlessly worry that he may not play Wimbledon, Nadal himself is coolly readying to play an invitational this Friday prior to Wimbledon. If Rafa is really injured, would he risk it by playing a tournament in the name of practice? People don’t see that Nadal is very careful to make sure he does not lose a second time before Wimbledon (at Queens), which would certainly embolden his opposition.

Roger should know from Rafa’s experience. He got so close to him (even offering him a ride on his private jet to a tournaments) that Rafa developed an enormous psychological edge over Roger—every time he faces Roger, Rafa thinks that it is his match to lose.

Roger could have said many things (such as congratulating Murray when he beat him) in a way that would not have Murray take away loads of confidence.

Murray goes on to say, "I feel much more capable of winning a grand slam now than I did at Wimbledon last year. I just feel I can do it mentally. I feel like I'm ready. Whether it happens at Wimbledon or not I don't know, but now and in the future slams that I play, I feel like I've got a great chance.”