anyone else agree that federer....?

Question

has become a victim of his own success?

he dominated for so long, 237 weeks (4.5 years) that he was no.1, and he has won so much, set so many records (equalling legends, breaking them, and on occasions, come very close to breaking them).

i remember when fed was in his prime, even when he lost a set, the media were a group of vultures ready to swoop down on him, he was expected to just win matches in straight sets and play godly perfect tennis.

and then there was also all this talk about roger possibly becoming the greatest of all time, how he would beat sampras's record of 14 slams, and being the first man since some player in the 1880s at winning 6 consecutive wimbledons.

i think starting from last year, all of these events have transformed into a living nightmare for fed, mentally and physically they have taken a toll on him, continually having to live up to all these unrealistic expectations, i can understand why he can tend to just snap at the media and act a little bit arrogant.

so, just wondering, what are your thoughts? and add in some extra things if u want...

Answer 1

Absolutely. He has got to that point, like Tiger Woods in golf, where everyone is so accustomed to seeing him win that every single loss is put under the microscope by the media, every less than perfect performance is treated as a disaster. It has to be hard to deal with those kinds of expectations and the pressure to win everything... all the time. When he was at his peak, the pressure didn't seem to faze him but, with his recent form dipping off, that pressure is compounding his problems.

I honestly think it would help him to embrace not being number one and take some of the pressure off himself. When questioned about his results, he should remind the media that he's not the top-ranked guy anymore. The last thing he needs when trying to get himself back in form is even more media pressure. Maybe a coach would help too. It would help him mentally and assist him in strategizing and scouting opponents.

Answer 2

I agree with you that Rogi is a target of his own success. If one has had 80 wins and 6 losses in one season like he did in 2005-2006 that is what the standard becomes. If he achieves anything less than that he will be considered a failure.



Rogi should get used to the media games by now and it shouldn't affect him anymore after having been through a disastrous year. Moreover, he doesn't need to prove anything to anybody.



As far as the grandslam record goes, he will sooner or later get to Pete's record. It is not like he needs a bunch of them. He needs one to tie and two to break Pete's record. That is one goal he will achieve, it is a matter of how, when and where he does it. I am not sure if he can get to # 1 position because he is not doing good in small events, but he will achieve the grandslam record sooner or later.



Once again, he was the fan's favorite so there is a lot of expectation still out there and I am sure it must be hard to deal with this. But when your name is Roger Federer you have to deal with the pleasure and the misery that goes with that name. Anyways, wishing all the best to Rogi!

Answer 3

I wouldnt jump and say that this has become a living nightmare for him because i just think that at the moment he has lost alot of confidence and focus as he is losing more and more matches. Only he knows how he feels and where his thoughts are, because while people feel that there is a load of pressure on him, he actually said that he feels less pressure coming into matches because people don't expect him to win anymore.



i think at this point in his career, federer is only frustated with himself as he looks back and realizes that he is not performing as highly as he did before. So i too can understand how he has been carrying himself on the court because despite his knowledge of all the things he is still capable of doing, he cant seem to execute those godly shots and plays he is so used to doing.



I dont think he is having trouble living up to the high expectations others hold for him.. i think he is having trouble living up to the high expectation he holds for himself.

ex. in 2008 he reached the final of every slam and won the U.S open.. to any other player that's a dream but to him he is thinking to himself "i can do better" so when he constantly saying that to himself the frustration builds up and is confidence goes down.



So i wouldnt say that he has become a victim of his own success but has reached an awkward, uneasy stage in his career as greats like Pete Sampras did.

Answer 4

Not at all.



Lost a few matches due to mononucleosis. Mononucleosis is pretty serious and Federer struggled to return to form after recovering from his illness. This of course led to a pretty big drop in confidence. That is honestly all that Federer is lacking at the moment, confidence.



It would be a MASSIVE surprise if Federer did NOT beat Sampras's record at this point. The only person, in my veiw, that could challenge Federer for the greatest of all time is Sampras. Agassi, who played both, places Federer higher. He would know.

Answer 5

he has but he will always go down as the best to ever pick a racket, it's hard to play and win matches day in and day out, once you win a tournament, next week there is another one you have to play at least every month except november and december, once the season is finished another one is right around the corner, so it is physically demanding, and for federer to do this 4 and a half years is amazing, people at the time thought he was a god, they did expect to much out of him, he lived up to those expectations, but people still keep thinking he can conquer everything he does, which is almost impossible. to tell you the truth and as stupid as it sounds, roger federer is a victim of being too good and talented and his own success. sounds crazy doesn't.

Answer 6

first of all happy to see you have regained a bit of your good feelings for him(at least that's what I feel).



I agree with u,I thought about this when he cried at the AO final.in every article I read during the AO with Federer's name in it, he was called this way:Federer,who is one shy of Pete Sampras's record..

or sth meaning that.

he felt he was so expected to win,and the losses even at finals to s.o. like Nadal embarrassed him.did u hear what he said after his recent loss? he was asked about the pressure on him,and he said that there is no pressure anymore because"I have lost the last 20 tournoments or so,nobody expects me to win really"when I read this I thought he is trying to believe nobody expects him so that he can calm down..i feel he is in a very sad state right now.

the sport would be great if the media wasn't there for post-match interviews.

Answer 7

well roger has had a bit of stress lately.. and u cant really blame him...his back....the bad year last year... well he does has a chance to get pete's record, if he's lucky. But federer still got game. I mean other than murray and nadal theres bascially no one he's afraid of. Djokovic? no way....that match where he smashed his racket (btw was totally awsome, one shot KO wow...even though it was kinda dissapointing to see him do that) was just a match wehre he didnt have his game together...and the wind was distracting him quite a lot...

Answer 8

it wasn't a nightmare, he loved it. he said he enjoyed being untouchable at the top. he thought that's just how every sport was, one guy alone at the top killing everyone comfortably.



nothing lats forever. i just wish it could have lasted one more year. because 2007 was a year of equaling alot of records, 2008 was a chance to break alot.

Answer 9

his fall has surprised me , he has come down very quickly

Answer 10

i dont think so... all champions go thru this.. he will back to his best