Roger Federer can dream of winning the Australian Open’s sixth title before his semi-final match against Hyeon Chung – at last.
In his dream season of 2017, he hadn’t allowed himself to dream with a special theme. Roger Federer made a miraculous comeback last year, with two Grand Slam titles and a jump to the top of the world, but he categorically ruled out a return to first place in the world rankings – a very realistic and sober strategist.
It also had something to do with the fact that Federer did not score points in the clay court season because of his chosen time-out and had to let his eternal rival Rafael Nadal pass him by. The Mallorcan matador then concreted his summit position in the fall with a triumph at the US Open, both had won two majors, but Nadal had collected more points in the daily tour routine.
When Federer steps into the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne this Friday for his semi-final challenge against South Korea’s Hyeon Chung, the first place will play a more important role. It’s kind of stirring in the back of my mind, this goal that Federer is allowed to pursue seriously beyond the day of this preliminary round match. Federer wants to win the tournament with successes over Chung and then against the already established first finalist Marin Cilic (6-2,7-6,6-2 against Kyle Edmund/GB).
He wants to break the magic mark of 20 Grand Slam titles with his triumph at the Australian Open, but he also and especially does not want to lose ground in the battle for the desired leading position – which he could achieve at the tender age of 36 years, then as the oldest pro in tennis history.”It would be something very special if I could do that,”Federer once said last year, even before the US of that time. At the time, he was also asked what he liked best, jumping to number 1 or the title in New York. Federer’s answer:”Preferably both. But maybe even more like number one.”
In Australia, Federer can’t win anything now, but still reduce the distance to Nadal to just 105 points. The Spaniard had lost to Cilic in the quarter-finals, but had to retreat in the fifth set with a 2-0 deficit due to hip problems. Nadal will now be out of the tournament for about a month, after which he apparently wants to follow his original tournament schedule, that is to say in Acapulco, Indian Wells and Miami. The two US masters had also decided in 2017 that Federer would probably not even consider a change of power – even if he is not completely excluded.
Nadal will, of course, be under pressure later in the year if he has to confirm his many outstanding clay court results – from today’s point of view, the question arises as to how the matador can and will physically steal it. By the way, Federer also takes longer time-outs again in 2018, but he seems ready to react to events in the fight for first place at any time. Maybe even in the clay court season.