After his surprise “early” defeat in the semi-finals of the Australian Open at the beginning of the year, Roger Federer kind of disappeared from the scene.

Like the true sportsmen he is, he never mentioned again the fact that he was really sick just days before the tournament began in Melbourne and, as usual, gave as all the credit to his opponents, although it was clear that he was far from being at his best during the whole two weeks of the tournament.

Since then Federer hasn't been the same, and his really early defeat this week by Andy Murray is surprising but by no means alarming, like many people tend to think.

'One of the longest runs ever in the ATP Tour's history just came to a halt – and it will be a short one'


When someone like Federer, who rarely loses a tennis match for months in a row, has a bad run of results, suddenly he’s "lost it", "lost his magic", "mentally done with" and so on. But the truth is much simpler. Federer is just human. One of the longest runs ever in the ATP Tour's history just came to a halt – and it will be a short one.

It is true that Federer's chances of winning the French Open are slim, and that will probably fuel talk about the end of his dominance, but it is quite clear that it will only symbolise one thing - the end of the "vacation" Federer has taken from winning.

The Swiss master said in an interview not so long ago, that he intends to play tennis until he is about 35. You can bet that Federer is the last person on earth to think in terms of being "fed up" with tennis in general, or losing specifically, and in the middle of a career crisis. Neither will he be thinking about quitting either now or in five to eight years time.

So sit back, take a rest, and wait for the newly-rested Federer at Wimbledon this year.