Injuries and Roger Federer never seem to appear in the same sentence, but 2016 has been something of an anomaly for the 17-time Grand Slam champion with constant injuries threatening to derail a positive start to the year. Recent months has seen Federer back on the tour with consistency though, reaching three semifinals in a row during the grass events which he featured in.
Win/Loss
With Federer missing several months of the season due to injury, his amount of match time has been limited compared to previous years, although his win/loss ratio still reads at a positive 21-7. The ratio leaves him 20th in the year to date win/loss rankings, whilst he is yet to lift a title after one final defeat and four losses at the semifinal stage. Despite missing the French Open, his ratio at Grand Slams reads 10-2 with runs to the last four in Melbourne and Wimbledon.
High Points
Federer’s year is yet to feature a title, but a run to the semifinals at the Australian Open was impressive, as he reached a meeting with Novak Djokovic after only losing one set. Along the way, Nikoloz Basilashvili, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Grigor Dimitrov, David Goffin and Tomas Berdych were all dispatched, with Dimitrov being the only man to extend his meeting to beyond three sets. The Serb proved too much in four sets, but the impressive showing backed up his final defeat to Milos Raonic in Brisbane during the opening week of the season.
Since then, only five tournaments have involved the 34-year-old, with his last three events all reaping semifinal exits at Stuttgart, Halle and Wimbledon. During the events in the German cities, Federer was examining his fitness ahead of his favourite major of the season at SW19 but bowed out at both events to rising youngsters Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev. In London, he produced arguably the moment of his frustrating season, as he overcame a two-set deficit to Marin Cilic to defeat the Croat in five sets in an up and down quarterfinal clash. It was the 7-time champion’s first comeback from trailing by two sets for the first time since the 2014 US Open when he stunned Gael Monfils in New York.
With the victory over Cilic, Federer broke Martina Navratilova’s record for victories at Grand Slams, as he reached 307 wins putting him one ahead of the Czech legend in the open era.
Low Points
For the first time since 2013, the Swiss number one’s year has contained many low points, with injuries the beginning of the problems. Just days after the loss to Djokovic at the Australian Open, Federer announced he had injured his knee in peculiar circumstances, meaning he’d miss events in Rotterdam, Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami, before returning at the Monte Carlo masters. After exiting to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals, he picked up a back injury which forced him to miss Madrid at the start of May.
He made a brief return to action in Rome but was clearly struggling with back issues as Thiem cruised past him in the third round. The ease of the defeat created many concerns on Federer’s participation at the French Open, and these worries were realised as he missed his first Grand Slam since 1999 after pulling out of Roland Garros, ending a run of 65 consecutive appearances at tennis’ top level. Since then, the injury problems have subsided, and he has made a full return to the ATP tour with three back-to-back grass events.
Best Results
Federer’s best result at the seven events he’s played in 2016 is the run to the final in Brisbane, where he was edged out by Raonic in straight sets. On his route to the final, Tobias Kamke, Dimitrov and Thiem proved no threat to a dominant Federer, as he did not drop a set before losing to the Canadian. He’s yet to reach another final after the first week of the season, but four semifinals have followed including at the two slams he has participated in.
Already his comeback from two sets down to Cilic at Wimbledon has been mentioned, but it was his performance during the fourth round stage at the Australian Open which was particularly impressive, with Goffin feeling the full force of an impressive display, which included 39 winners to reach the last eight stage.
Worst Results
Arguably, the world number three’s worst result came during the last four meeting with Thiem at the Mercedes Cup, as he wasted two match points before going on to lose to the talented Austrian in three sets. Before then, the defeat to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Monte-Carlo was due in part to an abject showing from Federer, which we later realised was not helped by injury and fitness concerns. That said, one of two errors crept into the latter part of the match, allowing the Frenchman to claim a three-set victory.
A semifinal loss to Raonic at Wimbledon recently meant another chance to gain an eighteenth Grand Slam title had passed but fatigued seemed to set in during the fifth set after he had blown the opportunity to reach the final in a fourth set tie-breaker.
Grade: C
Federer’s first half of 2016 has seen 21 victories including one final and four semifinal exits, but a lack of title and injury frustrations means it cannot be a year to remember for fans and player alike. He's reached the semifinal at both majors he's featured in, but every tournament played since the opening slam of the year has thrown up concerns on his fitness, with every small slip and loss of movement leading to fans all over the world holding their breath.
The last few weeks have been much more positive, with three tournaments played without any injuries seemingly reappearing. His most recent defeat to Raonic featured a nasty looking fall in the fifth set, but any injuries gained have been minimal and the Swiss star’s 2016 looks to be picking up for a more successful second half of a frustrating campaign.
