Just under a year ago, Roger Federer surprised all the doubters in Melbourne, but also himself. In 2018, the Swiss player will be one of the big favourites in the first Grand Slam tournament of the season.
In 2017, here in Melbourne, this was the craziest thing that ever happened to me in tennis,”says Roger Federer,” it’s going to be hard to beat that.”How ever? Federer came from an injury break of just under six months, expected “nothing” from himself and his Grand Slam task – and when the two weeks in Melbourne were over, he was still there. As a champion, sensational winner, ultimate comeback man,”The emotions were simply overwhelming. And even after a few weeks I woke up in the morning and thought:”Sorry, is that really true? Or just a dream,”says Federer. But yes, everything was right. Very well indeed.
For years he had been chasing one of the four Grand Slam titles in vain, sometimes even voices had been heard, his greatest time was over, he might even have missed the moment of the somewhat ideal jump. And then, at the most unlikely moment in his life, Federer was once again the king of a major, a victory, enhanced by the fact that he had to fight for the crown over five tough, intense, tense sets with his eternal rival Rafael Nadal.
“Melbourne 2017, it will always have a special place in my heart,”says Federer. Not least because this victory offered him new perspectives for his later career in four respects. This also included the certainty of being able to get back to work with great power, even after long, very long breaks, with solidity, security, self-confidence and the usual esprit.
“The tournament, the whole Grand Slam experience back then, was a key moment for me,”says Federer before his current start against the 28-year-old Slovenian Aljaz Bedene in the evening event on Tuesday,”it was one of the big landmarks as a professional”. What he desperately wanted, what he strived for with all his might and energy, another Grand Slam victory in his thirties, he achieved with a magical coup. Later on, major title number 19 was added to the list and Roger Nimmersatt won in his green tennis paradise in Wimbledon – what else can he do with the pressure that every top player traditionally voices and complains about before every tournament.
“I’m pretty calm in front of this tournament now,”says Federer,”I’ve never had a problem with the favorite role anyway. Nevertheless, Federer was slightly ironic and surprised that “a 36-year-old should be the absolute candidate for the title”:”I feel that this is somehow not quite right”. Federer is pleased and satisfied that he was spared from further injuries after the brilliant return to the start of the 2017 season. Occasionally he was plagued by one or two ailments, but it was nothing serious or even threatening. For the four-time father of the family, it paid off that he radically thinned out his tennis commitments and quasi-sat down on a diet, so that he could show off his unbroken class and energy at the right moment, at the top tournaments,”The best proof was the long break in the clay court season and the subsequent victory in London. I would have thought that was impossible in the past,”says Federer. This year again, he will focus on a lean schedule and will only take part in the most necessary and efficient programme.