2008 Wimbledon: Federer Has a New Challenge – The Next Level

The Championships are Eight Days Away

Roger Federer has something to prove to himself. Despite all his public comments dismissing any shake up on his confidence, I don’t buy for a moment that this last year hasn’t gotten to him in some way. Most other world class athletes would be quite proud of the stats Federer has accumulated in 2008 but this is certainly not just another athlete. This is Roger Federer — world’s number one and potentially greatest player to ever handle a racquet.

When the 2008 Wimbledon Championships commence in just over a week, Roger Federer will be two weeks removed from his most memorable loss. The one where Rafael Nadal truly displayed to the world just how human Federer can be. It’s kinda like that scene in Rocky IV when after taking a flurry of hard shots from Ivan Drago, Rocky finally threw up a haymaker left hook and cut open the fake Russian boxer.

The only solace Federer has is the fact that if he had to lose big, he might as well lose big on the one surface that has given him the most trouble adapting to, against the one man who history may call the greatest clay court tennis player of all time.

This will not be the case at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships.

Wimbledon is Federer’s house. He’s owned it for the past five years. But this year is different. This year he’s had to endure a very disappointing title record for Federer standards. He’s had to deal with losing to players who previously wouldn’t have qualified to be his hitting partners. This year, he’s had to endure journalists publicly wondering if he truly is the greatest of all time. And this has all culminated in a performance at the 2008 French Open that has all but drained Federer of all his confidence going into the next tournament with his greatest nemesis. The same guy who took him to a scary five setter final just last year at his favorite tournament.

And forget the fact that grass may just not be Nadal’s best surface. Not only has he reached the Wimbledon finals two years in a row, it looks like both he and Federer will win their warm up tournaments leading up to Wimbledon. Clay may be Nadal’s favorite surface, but it most definitely is not the only surface he can rock.

And what of the other “potential threats”?

There is nothing to note from the past that either Roddick or Djokovic will get past the quarters. As a two time finalist, Roddick has a decent chance of making it to the semi-finals but no further. Djokovic has a better chance on the hard courts of the US Open then the quicker, low bounce grass of Wimbledon.

This is Federer’s favorite surface, his favorite tournament, his favorite court, his favorite ambiance, his favorite time. The 2008 Wimbledon could be the turning point for not only the remainder of Federer’s 2008 season but for the remainder of his career. Win here, and it shifts the momentum away from Nadal’s dominant clay court season back to Federer’s record breaking legacy.

Lose Wimbledon and it may just turn out to be the last catalyst that starts a downward spiral for Federer in the upcoming few months.

The Championships begin Monday, June 23rd, 2008.

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