Roger Federer: Win at Swiss Indoors Proof He's Still Elite

Welcome back Roger.

OK, maybe Federer never left, but he did provide us with a friendly reminder that the 30-year-old tennis player is still capable of winning a major Grand Slam.

He defeated Kei Nishikori 6-1, 6-3 in the Swiss Indoors final on Sunday to notch his first victory in the past 10 months.

The Swiss native was clearly emotional after the match, winning the tournament in his home country.

After the match, he certainly didn’t sound like a guy who was capping off another grueling year of tennis:

It has been a long time since I felt so good physically. I’m at a different point in my career to the younger guys, I have to focus on what’s better for my body, my mind, my family and I think it was the right decision.

One of the most incredible parts about Federer is his attitude. He is obsessed with tennis and is determined to remind people why he is widely considered to be the best tennis player of the last 25 years. He cares about his legacy.

Federer is not going to sit back and relax this offseason. He will stick to the grueling training regimen that has made him so great, and he’ll watch endless amounts of tape to figure out why he didn’t win a major tournament in a calendar year for the first time since 2003.

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are the consensus top players heading into 2012…but you can’t forget about Federer. It’s pretty ironic that Federer’s two toughest opponents have to deal with reoccurring injuries that will hamper them for the remainder of their careers, and Federer is still as healthy as ever.

Expect him to be competing for a title in more than just Wimbledon. There is still great tennis left in one of the all-time greats.