By Chris Oddo | Wednesday July 26, 2016
Roger Federer will forego the rest of 2016 to give himself a shot at Grand Slam glory in 2017. Will the plan succeed?
Photo Source: Stephen White/CameraSport
It was a giant shock to the system—Roger Federer announcing his plans to skip the remainder of the 2016 season in order to conduct more extensive rehabilitation on his surgically repaired left knee.
More: Federer Announces His 2016 is Over
And it was colored with sadness. A season that really never hit its cruising speed has now ended abruptly, and with it precious weeks and months have slipped through the Federer hourglass that marks his now limited window of efficacy.
Just two weeks shy of his 35th birthday the 17-time major champion doesn’t have much time left, but he made it clear on Tuesday that he’s willing to sacrifice quantity for quality, foregoing the remainder of a difficult, disappointing season in order to make one last stab at greatness.
“The doctors advised that if I want to play on the ATP World Tour injury free for another few years, as I intend to do, I must give both my knee and body the proper time to fully recover,” Federer said in a statement yesterday.
In theory, it’s a perfect plan. Federer has always been meticulous about his fitness. For him to play at anything other than 100 percent at this phase of his career would be equivalent to skiing down a slippery slope with only one ski.
But in reality, time is the enemy and it scored a major victory. For Federer, there's an inherent risk in continuing to play while not at peak fitness, but there's also a risk in handing over four months of what little time Federer has left to the tennis gods.
Let's face it: Federer is already well beyond what could realistically be considered his tennis prime. What can he possibly hope to achieve next season at 35 going on 36, an age where most tennis champions are well into their second career?
How about an 18th major title?
Sounds a tad outlandish, but let’s consider the fact that a hobbled, out-of-form Federer was a set away from playing the Wimbledon final just three weeks ago when he imploded and fell to Milos Raonic in five.
If he can get that far while in such a discombobulated state, why can't he go all the way in 2017?
Though he was bitterly disappointed after falling to Raonic at Wimbledon, Federer also seemed happily surprised that he was able to push so far at the All England Club in the midst of a gloomy season that has been marred by injuries, illness and the lack of fitness that goes hand-in-hand with missing so much match play. He talked about a silver lining in his statement to fans on Tuesday, saying that his difficulties in 2016 have made him realize how lucky he has been throughout his career. But a black cloud still lingers, despite the silver lining: The fact that age catches up with everyone. By Grand Slam champion standards (particularly in the Open Era), Federer’s in the pushing-up-daisies category.
So what will Federer have left when he returns to the game in 2017? It’s difficult to picture a 35-year-old player, even one of Federer's stature, competing for majors but the Swiss appears intent on doing just that. Always a master planner and master scheduler, Federer has spent his whole career peaking at the right time and staying healthy when he has needed to. In 2016, it all finally caught up with him. A freak knee injury that led to surgery threw his whole system out of whack and Federer’s plan to massage his calendar to optimize his performance at the majors failed. He skipped Indian Wells and Miami but returned too early on the clay. Then he skipped the French Open but couldn’t get his fitness optimized quickly enough to capitalize on Novak Djokovic’s early upset at Wimbledon.
But all credit to Federer. He has assessed the situation and made a courageous decision to pull the plug on his season. Time waits for noone, true, but fortune favors the bold as well.
In Federer's case, it's better to be bold than to be old. He knows his window is limited but he believes that there are magical moments waiting if he plays his cards right. So while the rest of the ATP Tour is grinding into late November, Federer has already begun his preparations for next season.
Federer, the game’s ultimate champion, is going for tennis’ ultimate off-season training block. Will it give him a leg up on the competition in 2017? It certainly can’t hurt. How many times have we heard players credit a fantastic season with a really long training block in the off-season? These days, most top players go from one season to the next with hardly enough time to catch one’s breath, let alone build a training base big enough to carry them through a whole season. That won’t be an issue with Federer next year, and it might be the stroke of genius that keeps his flame not just flickering but burning bright.
The lack of a true off-season in tennis might be one of the reasons that older players have so much trouble winning majors these days. Maybe Federer's decision to create a longer, more productive off-season will unlock the door to his personal fountain of youth.
It’s a scary path to embark on, but also a courageous one. Federer believes that he has a lot left to achieve, and we can be sure that he’ll leave no stone unturned as he prepares to add more layers to his legacy in 2017. Whether he’s blinded by optimism or indeed capable of greatness at 35 remains to be seen. What is crystal clear is that Federer still burns with the desire that brought him to the pinnacle of the sport well over a decade ago and has kept him there ever since.
“I am as motivated as ever and plan to put all my energy towards coming back strong, healthy and in shape to play attacking tennis in 2017,” Federer concludes.
So the last chapters of Roger Federer’s storybook career have yet to be written. The great author of tennis lore has elected to shutter himself in for a long winter of brainstorming and storyboarding. Tennis awaits his next creative offerings. If we’re lucky the final chapter will be cleverly crafted, winding and emotional—and the ending will be sweet.