He's Back! Roger Federer Wins Another Grand Slam

To the doubters, this should prove them wrong.  Roger Federer just became the first player ever, male or female, to win five consecutive times at two different Slam Events (Wimbledon and the US Open). 

But more importantly, this sets him up with a great deal of confidence and puts renewed butterflies in the stomachs of fellow players headed into next season. 

Those butterflies are important, because any player or team is much more invincible when the other player or team thinks of them as invincible.

Former No. 1 player-turned-commentator Jim Courier stated in the early coverage of the US Open that he believed Roger had put on a good face this year and that he didn't want other players to know the extent that the mono had taken it out of him and interfered with his conditioning.

This made him a step slower, and he tired sooner in the match and was worn out by the end of a tourney.  It made him vulnerable to players who had no business winning one set, much less three. 

But as Courier now appears to have been right, this means bad things for the doubters.  If Roger indeed had lost some of his game, that is potentially permanent. 

If he is just recovering from the long-lingering effects that a disease had on his conditioning, that will be completely in the past come next year.

But his conditioning appears to already be coming back and his confidence, ability to find the extra gear, and his invincibility seems to be coming right back with it.  And all of this is happening at the right time too as the off-season looms and he can get some serious rest and start 2009 now one step closer to the total Slams record.

I not only believe that Fed is back, but I also believe that he may be an even stronger player now given that he put his complete focus in Beijing to winning the doubles gold once the chance at singles had evaporated.

He appears much more willing to go to the net now, partly because he has recently played there a lot but also because, as others have obviously gotten better at game-planning Roger, he had to add a new wrinkle to keep them honest and keep them up at night. 

He will be an even better player now than he was...and he was already the best.