Roger Federer: What Happened to His Stranglehold on the World's No. 1 Ranking?

Roger Federer was No. 1 from Feb 2004 for a staggering consecutive 237 weeks. He lost the top spot to Spaniard Rafael Nadal in August 2008.

He got it back in June 2009 only to lose it again in May 2010 to his Spanish nemesis.

Many fans still expected him to reclaim his position at the top of the rankings by July 2011.

However, not only did Federer not get back to No. 1 , he slipped further to No. 3 and then to No. 4.

What happened to his stranglehold on the World's No. 1 Ranking?

Why has Federer not been able to get back to No. 1 after May 2010?

It would be easy to say that it is because he is past his prime .

But, we saw how Agassi was No. 1  for about a year after crossing age 29, holding it almost continuously for a year before losing it in September 2000. He then reclaimed the No. 1 ranking just one day before his 33rd birthday and held it in two broken stretches for a total of 12 weeks before finally relinquishing it in September 2003.

Agassi also won five grand slam titles after age 29, winning three at age 29, one at age 30 and the last one at age 32, a couple of months before his 33rd birthday.

Federer is fit and has never missed a grand slam main draw since year 2000. He is probably more fit than Agassi himself was at this stage of his life.

He is clearly not inferior to the American in level of play and indeed has demonstrated his brilliance repeatedly this year. The most striking demonstration of this was his defeat of Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros, becoming the only player this year to beat the Serb in a grand slam match.

Evidently, he is still an elite player. 

So what explains his loss of the top ranking and inability to win a slam after the Australian Open 2010?

The answer is simple.

The elite players today are better than the elite players who constituted his competition in the years 2003 to 2007.

Even during those years Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray gave Federer trouble despite their relative inexperience and youth, Nadal spectacularly so.

All three first beat Federer in a Masters tournament. Nadal did so in the Miami Masters in 2004, Murray in the Cincinnati Masters in 2006 and Djokovic at the Montreal Masters in 2007.

Keen observers noticed ominous signs of a slackening of the Federer stranglehold in 2007 itself although the Maestro won three slams that year.

Since 2008, with the coming of age of first Nadal and then Djokovic and Murray, it is not surprising that Federer has lost his grip on the top ranking and is currently in the 4th place.

It is highly unlikely that he will ever get back to No. 1 again.

But even though he has lost his stranglehold on the No. 1 ranking, he hasn't lost his stranglehold on the hearts of his fans who number in the millions.

It is, therefore, fortunate for the fans that Federer intends to play for another four or five years.

It would indeed be a sad day for tennis when Federer retires for we are unlikely to see again a player with his style of play.