The crowd slowly rose to its feet, almost in disbelief, before applauding Novak Djokovic, then gave Roger Federer a standing ovation as he quickly left the court. It was an unusual scene and everybody was understandably surprised. Never before in the previous ten grand slam tournaments has Roger Federer lost before the finals. In fact. He has won almost all of them, except for the two French Opens, which were won by Nadal. But he reached the finals nonetheless. This was definitely unexpected, almost surreal, especially to Federer fans.

I was afraid this would happen, that Roger would lose in a grand slam eventually. After all, he’s just human. But that’s just it. He had been playing like a well-oiled
machine for the longest time, especially in major tournaments, that people were expecting he could do no wrong. Nobody played like him before. Well, maybe Bjorn Borg. But he was not as consistent as Roger, not as invincible for so long except at Wimbledon. In a post match interview I saw, Federer summed it up by saying, “I've created a monster that I need to win every tournament”. I agree.

On the other hand, others, my brother included, were hoping that he would lose. Not because they’re not Federer fans. In fact, like my brother, they idolize him. But they say tennis has become boring with Federer winning almost every time.

Signs that his armor of invincibility was cracking started showing up towards the end of the season last year. His uncharacteristic losses to David Nalbandian and Fernando Gonzales unnerved his fans, this one included. I even remember asking myself, “Is this the beginning of the end?” Then, as the Australian Open unfolded, I saw a different Roger playing. He seemed sluggish, and his racket appeared lacking in punch. He’s just a slow starter, I assured myself. However, as the tournament went on I saw little improvement. His almost-loss to Tipsarevic showed it all. I didn’t see the usual Federer flair, his balletic movements on the court that produced winners after winners to the dismay of opponents. Though he won that match (just barely), I sensed that he wouldn’t win this one this year. That he would eventually lose before the finals. I was right.

Having said all these, I’m not saying that Djokovic’s win was a fluke. In fairness to him, he played excellently, dashing every bid of a comeback by the defending champion with smart play and formidable serves. However, the big news tonight isn’t his win, but the loss of Federer. I hope he can recover. I know he can recover. Maybe he just needed a wake up call after all. Or maybe he was getting bored himself, who knows? But there’s one thing I’m sure of. The king isn’t dead, he just stumbled.

the king is dead, long live the king !?

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