Rafael Nadal Is King: Should Roger Federer Retire Now?

Should Roger Federer retire? This is a question that was raised by many after his defeat at the Australian Open '09 when he wept out of frustration. Nadal seemed set to dominate him on all surfaces. Then the very same people had their noses rubbed in the mud and were made to eat humble pie because Roger went on a real tear in the Grand Slams. He won the French Open for the first time, thereby completing a Career Slam, re-established his reign on the grass courts of Wimbledon and broke Pete Sampras' record for GS titles, missed the US Open by a whisker and swatted aside Andy Murray,the young Pretender, in straight sets, to win the Australian Open crown, bringing his tally of Grand Slam titles to 16.

Clearly the calls for Roger to retire were premature. So intimidated were those who had wished to write Roger's epitaph that even after a lacklustre next few months when he did not win a single title, losing even in a minor tournament, no one raised a cry that it was all over for Roger. Even after he crashed out in the quarter- finals of the French Open and lost the Halle final to Hewitt who was coming back from surgery, he was still the favorite to win Wimbledon. Again, the great man crashed out in the quarters and to the embarrassment of many of his fans, refused to give credit to his victor,thus proving to be a sore loser.

But still the world wanted to believe that these were minor blips. He reached the finals of Toronto and won at Cincinnati. This was enough to make him the firm favorite while riding into the US Open tournament. Nadal, who was World no 1 and was coming off two back to back Grand Slam victories did not seem to merit the same regard. What is it about Federer that makes people find excuses for all his defeats and still expect him to win? Anyway, Federer lost in the semi-finals. I had expected him to lose either to Djokovic or to Nadal. Djokovic had the toughest quarter and we could see him improving with every round. Nadal was making his way through the tournament without losing even one service game till he reached the quarter- finals. He definitely appeared in formidable form. Had Federer made it to the finals, he might have suffered a rout similar to that at the French Open 2008 where he had found himself with a bagel and a breadstick in his embarrassing straight sets defeat (1-6,3-6,0-6) .

Now Federer has declared his intention of resting for a while to come back in great form for the rest of the season.

Is this the right time to ask once again, should Federer retire? Federer has said that he still wants to play and he still has some unfulfilled career goals. He is clearly obsessed with breaking all records and setting up new unbreakable ones. He wants to get back his no 1 ranking, probably to surpass Pete Sampras' record (of number of weeks at the top) which he has missed by a week. He wants to win the Olympic singles gold medal. He wants to increase his tally of GS titles to 20. He sees no reason to retire when his achievements this year include 1 Grand slam title, 2 GS quarterfinals, one GS semifinal and one Masters title (thereby tying Agassi's Masters record) .This is better than the record this year of all other players on the tour except Nadal. Probably better than the record of most players on the tour in their entire careers. Why then should this retirement question be raised?

Clearly Federer wants to play till at least 2012. Pete Sampras went two years without titles and then won the US Open at the age of 31. Agassi played till he was 36, winning his last GS title at the age of 32 and also regaining his no 1 ranking at age 33. If they could do it,so could Federer. Why should he shorten his career when he has the chance to add to his legacy? His being on the tour not only gives him the chance to add to his tally,it also gives him the chance to prevent Nadal from winning more and threatening to overtake him. Although Nadal could conceivably exceed Federer's tally by winning say 1 more of each of the AO and the USO, 2 more of Wimbledon and 4 more of French Opens, it is a formidable task. Further,it is unlikely that Nadal would be motivated by the mere desire to break records. He has clearly indicated that he is motivated by the desire to improve, to conquer new territories. Once he ceases to improve, would he continue on the tour merely to break records? Highly unlikely. 

But in any case, if Federer wants to safeguard his legacy by playing for two more years, it should not matter to us, right ? Wrong! It does matter to us. Federer is not an ordinary player. He has dominated the tour since 2003, setting so many new records that future generations might well find it hard to believe that such a player ever existed. We cannot judge him by the standards of ordinary mortals. Every time he loses, it is hard for us to stomach. It must be painful for him too. An ordinary mortal may celebrate reaching the quarter finals or semifinals of a GS, but does Federer? Even assuming he is a masochist, is it OK for him to also be a sadist and cause so much anguish to those who are used to seeing him win practically every Major?

There are some delusional fans who still believe Federer will once again dominate the tour and win 10 more GS titles. But the fans who are more of realists know that Federer's days of domination are over and he may at the most win 2 more GS titles and in all probability not win any more . It is painful for us to think that we have to go through two more years of the torture he has put us through in the barren stretch after the AO this year. Federer may also become unpopular among his fellow players like Sampras did when he was perceived as depriving them of a chance to go deeper into the tournament without any meaningful gain for himself as he failed to win titles. True, Federer may fare better than Sampras. But Sampras at least had the excuse of a GS record to break. Federer has no such excuse. Agassi had an unfulfilled career and he played beyond 30 to make up for lost time. Federer has no such lost years to make up. Honestly, I don't think collecting more GS titles or weeks at the top would add more meaning to his story. The extended stay on the tour could, in fact, rob his epic tale of the drama and excitement it has had so far.

Federer's recent inability to close out matches and his strange lapses of concentration seem to indicate partial mental burn out. Not surprising, considering the strain of retaining his dominance for so many years. Does he still feel the joy of playing?

It is my opinion that Federer should seriously examine whether he is motivated by the game itself or by the desire to set unbreakable records. If he still loves to play competitive tennis for the sheer joy of playing, let him continue. But if he is motivated by the thought of adding a couple of GS titles to his tally or overtaking Pete Sampras' record atop the rankings, I would wish Federer to hang up his boots.