And in Federer's Corner...
It’s been almost a year since Roger Federer parted ways with his part-time coach, Tony Roche. Given Federer’s second consecutive loss to Andy Murray at the Dubai tournament in his first match back after a five week layoff, the mumblings will become louder that Federer needs a coach at his side again. But does he? Since he’s been officially “coachless,” Federer has won two Grand Slam titles (i.e. Wimbledon and U.S. Open),
reached the finals of the French Open, semis of the Australian Open and won the year-end ATP Masters Cup in Shanghai. Federer’s also lost twice to both Novak Djokovic and David Nalbandian during this stretch. In the big picture, that doesn’t sound like too shabby a record. Nonetheless, this is a tricky time for Federer because he can’t let the guys in the locker-room start to really believe that he is beatable. Clearly, Federer’s incredible dominance including his consistency in both Grand Slams and especially the weekly ATP Tour tournaments couldn’t last forever. Federer’s had an incredibly strong 3-4 year run and so it’s not surprising that “the blush” has worn off a bit, i.e. he’s had a few off days and players believe a bit more that they have a chance to win when they play him. Therefore, Federer needs strong performances at the upcoming “mini-Slam” tournaments in Indian Wells, California (Pacific Life Open) and Key Biscayne, Florida (Sony Ericsson Open). If Federer doesn’t win one or both of those events then it’s probably time to add a new voice to his corner. If Federer does hire a new coach, he (or she!) would not change Federer’s game radically at this stage, but more likely simply add a new perspective, a little strategic advice regarding certain opponents, as well as some focus and fun to practices, etc. As they say, “change is (often) good”…
|
