A born winner, Roger Federer will die a magnificent loser. Bold observation as night falls on one of the most prolific sports careers: the Swiss has won 103 titles – only Jimmy Connors does better – including 20 Grand Slams and 28 in Masters 1000 for 24 years of professional career . But he also lost 54 singles finals, including 11 Grand Slams, had time to become the best player of all time and was ousted by his two best rivals.
Christopher Clarey, journalist and author of a biography of the Swiss champion, had ventured to say, long before us, that “his failures are indeed part of his legend. In 2008, for example, he was humiliated by Rafael Nadal in the Roland-Garros final, he reminded The union. If we look at his career, among his three biggest matches, he lost two: at Wimbledon against Nadal, in 2008, then against Djokovic, still at Wimbledon, in 2019. That makes him more human, closer to people. »
Roland 2008, we remember, we were watching TV. A butcher shop. The Balois had not lasted two hours against the Spanish tank. This will not prevent him from concluding that he had spent a good fortnight, that after all, he had to get there, in the final, even if it was to take the slap of his life. Nor to party right after, just to forget. No insult in this observation, only admiration. There is a strength in getting up after so many failures, especially when it’s against the same rival.
London night, Australian tears
A month later, Wimbledon 2008, quite the opposite of the previous final. Kind of endless. 4:48 officially, 4:49 in reality, bloody delay in switching on this scoreboard which will deduct a minute from the time of Federer’s holy life. Five sets of bewilderment until the decisive twilight. Breathtaking and breathtaking for the players and subjects of Her late Majesty Elizabeth II. At the end of the match, the viewers caused an impressive energy consumption peak of 1400 megawatts (the highest recorded in 2008 in the United Kingdom over five minutes) by switching on the lights. Nobody had the idea to get up to do it before Nadal had finished finishing the local deity, and everyone went about it at the same time to bring back the day in the cottages. A bit like in the cinema, finally, we turn on the lights at the end of the session.
Roger Federer put this defeat a little on the account of a declining luminosity, it is true. But it’s just that he was angry with the pink sky for not having crowned him.
“It’s very hard for me to lose like that, in somewhat special playing conditions. But that’s no excuse, and I think, winning as the light fades that much, kinda like Pete versus Rafter [en 2000, Sampras s’était imposé en quatre sets juste avant la nuit, pour son septième titre], that makes winning even more special. It’s something incredible. I just wish I was on the safe side…”
The frustration will reach its climax at the beginning of 2009, in Australia. Nadal played the equivalent of the 24 hours of Le Mans in the semis against Verdasco and will not cash a second marathon in two days. You speak. The Spaniard finishes Federer in five sets. The time too many, the Swiss cries like a child. How dare you do that? Let’s play the game again, someone give this man the joy he deserves. “A defeat like that hurts a lot, it’s hard,” he said between two sniffles. Especially when the final was as close as this or Wimbledon. “Perhaps also the time when the former world number one took too much comfort in failure. That evening, the gentleman gives way to the capricious Rodger, stealing light from a Rafa who no longer knows where to go.
An hour to recover from Wimbledon 2019
Writing the hagiography of a champion often comes down to extolling a certain aversion to defeat, the kryptonite of these demi-gods whom glory alone cannot satisfy. We won’t go so far as to say that Federer likes to lose, but of all athletes of his caliber, he is perhaps the one who has learned to live with it the best. Wimbledon 2019, final. The Swiss ages like a good wine, but it shouldn’t take too long to serve. That’s good, he offers himself two match points in the fifth round of his favorite tournament. On his serve, too. A player who weighs 12,000 aces – not hyperbole – cannot miss this opportunity. And yet, Rodgeur will bow.
Sad, but nothing more. “Now I only need half an hour to recover from a loss, maybe an hour if it’s the Wimbledon final,” he joked in an interview with the magazine. Male Number. Fans have been telling me about this defeat for weeks on the web. And still today, it happens. I’m like, ‘What, are they still thinking about it?’ But I understand. “In his tribute message to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga broadcast on the Philippe Chatrier, during the last Roland-Garros, the Basel had nice words for one of the very many French people to have beaten him (even Jérémy Chardy) , a politeness that Nadal or Djokovic never had. “I’m happy to have played and lost against you. “Roger Federer rubbed shoulders with defeat so much that he ended up emptying it of its substance. What if that was his greatest victory?