Roger Federer: Will Wimbledon 2011 Define His Career?

It seems almost worse than a cliché—such are the heights that debate and re-debate over Roger Federer have attained that almost any article about him, and his chances at Wimbledon 2011, would seem a mere copy of the last.

Yet it is the irresistible factor of history in Federer's career that keeps us going. There are set questions which will be asked for as long as he might play: Is he the greatest ever? How many Slams will he win? How historic is this next major championship going to be?

The fact is every major championship, and minor one, for Federer is going to have historic significance. Though piling up the stats—the match wins or consecutive service holds, or whatever it may be—playing a forehand for Roger Federer is just not going to be the same as anyone else doing the same.

Wimbledon 2011 is no different. Is it a major factor that he might win this? Certainly. Is it career-defining? Yes, and to quite the same extent any other Slam win of his from now onwards will be.

There are many things going for Federer at this Wimbledon—an issue I highlighted just before the tournament. He goes for the records, the greatness, but one suspects, at the end of the day, he simply goes for a chance to further demonstrate his undying passion for this sport.

A Pete Sampras-tying seventh Wimbledon crown, a 17th major, a second Slam as a father, a chance to regain his dominance in this sport—these are the oft-raised cries portraying the almost apocalyptic, fatalistic, do-or-die stakes at hand. He's getting too old, and it's hard to see him winning this thing again over 30. Wimbledon 2011, in the imagination of most, is about as good as last a chance he might get to, yet again, inscribe his name in history.

It's a truism, nonetheless, that a win here would be career-defining. Federer already exists at some unknown, rare plane of the tennis heavens and stands to further immortalise his name.

Somehow, every Grand Slam in the last two years, since he eclipsed Sampras in 2009, has attained historic dimensions—even before Federer ever came close to winning the tournament. He has, alas, only won one of the last seven majors, but the search persists for the next big thing.

The reality of Roger Federer, however he might play for the rest of his career, is that he will to the day he retires be enshrouded with the aura of the historic, having always in his grasp the chance to extend an almost superhuman career beyond its current limits. Most of all, at Wimbledon, where it all started, and where, with six titles so far, he has been most successful.

Federer admitted, "That's the moment I see and I feel the strongest," in a remarkably candid moment before Wimbledon, describing the sensation of lifting a Wimbledon trophy. It is the moment that sparked one of the most incredible runs in men's tennis in 2003, saw him accompany his win at London with a title at New York from 2004-'07 and the moment when he enshrined his name in history for all time in 2009.

We all know how fearsome Federer has been as Wimbledon champion, and there is no doubt that, of the Big Four, the pressure stands the greatest on his shoulders. Rafael Nadal is gunning for a third and Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray their maiden titles at Wimbledon. But nothing says it quite like a seventh. For all the hype of the equality in the standings among the top four, Federer stands with the most to gain.

Is he, however, the one with the most to lose at the same time? Great potential gains are often just great potential losses expressed more positively.

For the first time in Federer's time at Wimbledon, however, a loss might not be quite as impactful as we imagine. It will only confirm our suspicions of his decline, of course, and will probably only mar his legacy in that small way, that is likely to see him look forward to the US Open, and next year, as yet another opportunity for Grand Slam glory.

But Federer is too heightened in his tennis perceptions at the moment for him to waste such a potentially career-defining tournament. We stand at the threshold—just three victories away—of yet another glorious enlargement of the tennis patrimony Federer will bequeath future generations.