Competitors yet afraid of Federer

Roger Federer can have misplaced his position at the top of the rankings but he stays a tremendously formidable adversary, his rivals said.

The Swiss star has not succeeded to win a tournament in this year and smashed a racquet in an out of character outburst in Miami.

The world number one Rafeal Nadal said, “He’s completed a Grand Slam final and two Master Series semis.”

And on the other hand world number two Djokovic said, “He gained it all for four years and now he loses and misses a few he’s not in crisis”.

I did detect it strange that he cracked his racquet at Miami, he who always keeps peaceful. But these things occur when you are disturbed on the court,” added the Serbian.

Federer, 27, has won 13 Grand Slam occasions but only one, last year’s US Open, out of the last six. Nadal exchanged Federer at the top of the rankings last August, and the Swiss player has never defeated him at a Grand Slam event outside of SW19.

The usually reserved Federer burst into tears after losing to Nadal in the Australian Open final in February, giving the critics with advance ammunition that the Swiss player’s game was in refuse. France’s Gilles Simon has crushed Federer on each of the two events they have met, but the Frenchman was similarly admiring as Nadal and Djokovic. “For me, on a good day, he still is the excellent player in the world,” he said.

Breaking ranks, Fernando Verdasco of Spain proposed Federer was struggling psychologically with having to accept he was no more as prevalent as he had once been.

Two years before he was winning and gaining everything. Now, since the start of the year, he has been crushed by Nadal, Djokovic and Andy Murray. Psychologically it is not easy to manage. Federer is due to start his clay court season in Monte Carlo against Italian Andreas Seppi on Wednesday.