Federer's Smashed Racket Heard 'Round the World
When Roger Federer smashed his Wilson racket out of the blue during his loss to Novak Djokovic last week at the Sony Ericsson Open, everyone took notice. Apparently, the last time Federer smashed a racket was against Rafael Nadal at the same tournament several years earlier. However, since his days as a hotheaded teenager, Federer has very rarely flashed anger on the tennis court let alone smashed a racket in public. There have been
many top players who have broken rackets in anger from time to time although current Number One, Rafael Nadal, was taught as a youngster never to break a racket. Coupled with Federer’s disappointing results so far in 2009 and the flood of tears Federer shed after his loss to Nadal at the 2009 Australian Open, clearly all is not well with Roger. It’s been a subtle “down-shift” in Federer’s performance over the past year or so, but his recent emotional displays show it’s all really “getting to him.” In many ways, it’s painful to watch Federer suffer through these tough times in his career because other top players, e.g. Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, didn’t seem to hit such public emotional potholes. It will not be easy for Federer to navigate his way forward, but the key will be to approach the challenges ahead without panicking.
|
