Federer: is it the end?

Yes, I know. We've been saying this since the start of the decade. He was "over" in 2011, and then he won Wimbledon next year and clinched some more records (like those absolute 302 weeks as top-ranked). He was "over" in 2013 when he left top5 and didn't reach a single Grand Slam final and then in 2014 he performed quite an amazing season by playing his ninth Wimbledon final and nearly getting back the first position. However, I think this early loss to Seppi in Melbourne is somehow different and I'm going to explain why.

First of all, it's Andreas Seppi. Okay, if I had to pick an Italian player for my "tennis crew" of something I'd pick him with a blink of an eye (Fogna can't play five matches at high level in a row), but he's not quite above average in any aspect of the game... Besides, Roger has defeated him in their previous ten meetings, dropping only a set! Therefore, this early third round defeat in Australian Open (his worst result ever in the Happy Slam, tied with 2000 and 2001's performances) is probably due to some mental meltdown Federer is been showing in the last four years... And I'm afraid it won't get any better in the next months.

Let's be honest: Roger has no chance of winning another Major if, at least, two of the other three members of Big Four are on their best shape. And even if it's just one them and that one is Rafael Nadal, we all know Federer ain't going to defeat the Spanniard again in a Grand Slam tournament. I'm not saying I don't want it to happen, as long as the Swiss was the first tennis player I started watching... However, I fear Davis Cup will be the last big tournament in his curriculum. Which is already better than any other tennis player in history.

Pedro Mendes