2012 Federer Season in Review

Simply, 2012 was a better season for Roger Federer than any of his fans could have expected.

At the Australian Open, he played some amazing tennis before losing to his biggest rival, Nadal, in the semifinals. This was a disappointing match because he played so well prior and ulimately gave up on his tactics after the first set.

A week later at the Davis Cup, he suffered a shock loss to John Isner (who had never beaten him), en route to Switzerland getting blitzed by the USA. By this point, Roger had lost two straight matches, but nobody could have guessed what he would do in the coming months.

He played in Rotterdam, a 500 tournament, for the first time since 2005. In the semifinals, he fought from a break down in the second set (after losing the first) against Nikolay Davydenko to win, and then dismissed del Potro quite easily to win his 71st career title. A week later in Dubai, he did not drop a set and was only broken once to capture that title, his 5th at the event.

 Riding into Indian Wells, which he had not won since 2006, he was confident after putting together a 10-match win streak. After coming back from a set down to defeat Milos Raonic and Thomaz Bellucci consecutively, before stringing together three quality matches against del Potro, Nadal, and John Isner to capture his 19th Masters title. This was very impressive because he was ill with the flu the entire week, and still put together an outstanding week.

In Miami, Federer suffered a loss to one of his oldest rivals, Andy Roddick. The American played one of the best matches of his life, and with the loss, Roger had an extended break until the clay court season.

Which brings us to Madrid. There was great controversy over the event because blue clay was laid down, which made Nadal and Djokovic extremely unhappy (they both went out early). Federer's draw was very hard, and he barely scraped past Raonic before dispatching Gasquet, Ferrer, and Tipsarevic in making the final. In that final, he took on Tomas Berdych, and fought valiantly from a set down and had maybe his most clutch match of the season, winning his 20th Masters title and 74th overall.

Here came the down part of the year for Roger. In Rome, he made the semis before losing to Djokovic, but got some decent match play heading into the French Open. However, at Roland Garros, he never found his rhythm and after coming back from two sets down to defeat del Potro in the quarterfinals, he lost to Djokovic in the semis in a rematch of their famous encounter in 2011.

In retrospect, losing to Djokovic at the French was a blessing in disguise. The Serb and Nadal battled a war in the final whereas Fed received some extra rest, preparing himself for the grass court season. In Halle, he made a run to the final, including a third come-from-behind win against Raonic, before losing to his good friend Tommy Haas (more on the German later). Even with the defeat, it was a solid warm-up for his favourite Slam of the year.

At Wimbledon, the magic happened. In the 3rd round, he was two points from being upset from Julien Benneteau, but miraculously survived. A round later, on a cold, windy day, he suffered a scary back injury against Xavier Malisse, but somehow willed himself to victory.

Then came the moment of truth. In the semifinals, he took on Djokovic in a gargantuan battle. He was rock solid and took out the defending Wimbledon champion to make his first Wimbledon final in three years. He would face Britain's favourite son, Andy Murray, and with a win, would return to #1 in the world. He lost the first set to the Scot, but rebounded like champions do, and played some of the finest tennis he's ever played to win his 17th major title in 4 sets. It was a momentous occasion and all the hard work he had put together in the 10 months previous finally paid off.

 A few weeks later, he was back at SW19 for the Olympics. After surviving an early scare against Alejandro Falla (of Wimbledon 2010 fame), he landed himself in the semifinals without much trouble, against del Potro. He fought from a set down and won 19-17 in the third set in a contest that lasted well over four hours long. It was the longest three-set match ever. The win guaranteed him a singles medal, his first ever. In the final, he had little left in the tank against a red-hot Andy Murray and took home the silver, a fantastic achievement.

Because of the Olympics, he skipped Toronto and found himself back at his stunning best in Cincinnati. He defeated Djokovic in the final, delivering a bagel in the process. He held serve the entire tournament, the first time ever that a player has won a Masters title without being broken.

He took that momentum into the US Open, hoping to capture his 6th title in New York. After easing through his first three rounds, he received a walkover in the fourth when Mardy Fish withdrew due to health concerns, and he walked into the quarterfinals cold against Tomas Berdych. The Czech power hitter took advantage of the less-than-sharp play of the Swiss and won in four sets. It was a disappointing loss because had he won, he could have very well won the tournament.

After helping Switzerland get back into the World Group by taking out the Netherlands, Roger was back on tour action, looking to capture his first Shanghai title (he skipped the event in 2011 which led to his sweep of the indoor season). In the semifinals, he lost in straights to Andy Murray.

In Basel, he made the final before losing to del Potro in three close sets. He then took the week in Paris off, thus losing the #1 ranking, the total at 302 weeks. He entered the World Tour Finals on a 10-match winning streak at the event.

His first win against Janko Tipsarevic broke Ivan Lendl's record for most wins at the event, and he surpassed John McEnroe for most all-time wins. He overcame a tough challenge from David Ferrer, who was playing his best tennis ever, before falling yet again to the big Argentine.

He had played some great tennis in the round robin but also some errant tennis, so his semifinal showdown with Andy Murray was huge. He ended up putting together a masterclass against the US Open champion, and made his 8th final at the year-ending Masters Cup/World Tour Finals. In the final, it was the #1, Djokovic, against the #2, Federer in the last match of the season. Roger held a break in each set, but ultimately the Serb was too strong and Fed finished runner-up for the second time at the year-ending championship.

Overall, the numbers look like this: 71-12, 6 titles in 9 finals, a silver medal in the Olympics, and a return to world #1. He won 70 matches for the first time since 2006, and played a whopping 83 matches, also his most since 2006, when he played 97.

My thoughts on the season that was for the Swiss Maestro:

2012 was superb, and I don't think Federer fans could ask for much more. The last portion of the year was a bit of a letdown, but the first half of the season was absolutely magical. From Rotterdam to Cincinnati, Federer went 47-5 with 5 titles in 10 events.

I think before the win in Rotterdam, Fed was struggling with his confidence (hence the confusing losses to Nadal and Isner), but once he beat Davydenko, his entire mindset changed, and his confidence rose with every match. His serve became better, his movement and defense improved, and his mind remained focused and strong under duress, which allowed him to win many matches he could have or should have lost. His play in Dubai, Indian Wells, Madrid, Wimbledon, and Cincinnati honestly put me at a loss for words, he was that astonishing.

In the fall season, he was clearly on his last legs and tired after the heavy season, and the US Open defeat to Berdych did not help with his confidence, since he was on such a high heading into that event. Basically, the Olympics wore him out, and the loss in New York diminished his confidence and momentum just enough to derail him. Still, he made two finals and could have won both those titles had a few more points gone his way. He was certainly far from his best but he fought to the very end, which was a staple in 2012 that we did not always see in 2009, 2010, and 2011.

I think what Roger was able to do this year at 30-31 is out of this world, and this will go down as one of his best seasons ever. As mentioned, he played 83 matches - the extra six matches coming from the Olympics. It wasn't just that he played so many matches, however, but that many of them were tough mental battles where he had to be on the top of his game at the important moments to win.

He showed that he is perhaps the youngest 31 year-old to ever play the game, and that his fitness is elite. He showed that his love of the game is stronger than ever and he is willing to fight with the younger generation for these big titles. I can't stress enough that for someone who has accomplished everything, to still love the game as much as he does and want to put in the work to keep getting better is very admirable and respectable. His work ethic off the court is vastly underrated and it is his commitment to training in the off-seasons that has allowed him to piece together such a fantastic season where the game is more physical than ever.

May Federer have a great 2013 season and may he continue to win more titles and keep breaking records! The Maestro proved that he is far from finished and can beat his juniors (in the prime of their careers) on any given day, and you can bet your behind that he will continue to work as hard as ever to keep himself at the top of the game, challenging for the most coveted titles in our sport.

So long,

Kyle

PS: my top ten Federer matches of 2012:

based on quality of play and importance of the match on Federer's season

1.  vs Andy Murray, Wimbledon final
2.  vs Nikolay Davydenko, Rotterdam semifinal
3.  vs Julien Benneteau, Wimbledon 3rd round
4.  vs Juan Martin del Potro, Olympics semifinal
5.  vs Milos Raonic, Madrid 2nd round
6.  vs Tomas Berdych, Madrid final
7.  vs Rafael Nadal, Indian Wells semifinal
8.  vs Bernard Tomic, Australian Open 4th round
9.  vs Novak Djokovic, Wimbledon semifinal
10.  vs Novak Djokovic, Cincinnati final