Roger Federer, a formidable force in the men’s singles tennis, going down as a legend in the sport. He has positioned himself at the top of the table for the most Grand Slam singles titles of all-time with a current total of 20. Although his titles are pretty spread out across the four major competitions, he has seen most success at Wimbledon. From his first win in 2003 to his most recent win last year at the Australian Open, Federer has provided us with numerous intense matches – most of them facing his biggest rivals, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. With these top three dominating in each Grand Slam it is hard to see someone disrupting their flow, but can Roger Federer make it number 21 at the US Open this year? If you think you know who will win this year’s final Grand Slam you can bet on US Open 2019 with Betfair.
Although Federer has seen unprecedented success across all Grand Slams, his best years were earlier on in his career. Between the years of 2003 and 2010, we saw Federer claim 16 of his Grand Slam titles, which means in the last nine years, he has only won four. It could be fair to say that Federer has slowed down (especially as he has recently celebrated his 38th birthday), but it is also a valid argument that he has been overthrown by the arrival of Nadal and Djokovic who have both seen most of their successes after 2010, but have collectively claimed 34 Grand Slam titles.
It is true that since Nadal and Djokovic came on the scene they have made things slightly trickier for Federer, and although he has not won as many titles since they came about, he has still been reaching the finals at least once every year with the exception of 2013 and 2016. In fact, most of the Grand Slam finals since 2003 have been contested between these three tennis players with only a handful of exceptions.
In his recent years, we have seen Federer consistently challenging for a title but with Djokovic dominating at Wimbledon and the ‘King of Clay’ Nadal dominating at the French Open, he seems to be struggling to breakthrough. Federer has seen some success at the US Open in previous years, totalling five Grand Slam titles there, but he hasn’t won a title at Flushing Meadows since 2008 and the last final he reached was in 2015. However, at the Australian Open, we have seen Federer claim the Grand Slam in 2018 and 2017, so although he missed out on the win this year, he could be in with a greater chance of achieving number 21 there next year. There is a lot of debate as to where Federer could achieve his next Grand Slam title, but actually, will he claim it at all?
Is the era of Roger Federer’s Grand Slam title wins starting to phase out, or has he got a few more victories left in him? There has recently been a lot of speculation regarding his retirement. His reign has already been incredible and landed him well and truly in the history books of the sport, but it might be possible that his struggle to claim a title in recent years is a sign, that his last title in the Australian Open, was his last.
Whether you believe Federer’s time as a champion is up or that he has still got some glory moments left, one undeniable thing is his dedication and incredible achievements within the sport.
