It Is Official Roger Federer Is In A Slump Loses To Journeyman Mardy Fish In Straight Sets!!!!
I cannot believe this! I am screaming at the top of my lungs! I am shaking! I am so shocked right now! I am stunned absolutely stunned! The great Roger Federer losing to a journeyman Mardy Fish. WTF!!! Fish destroyed Roger 6-3 6-2 in the semifinals of the Indian Wells Masters. Roger had a 5-0 edge in their head to head meetings. How could Roger possibly lose to Mardy Fish?I cannot believe this!!!! Now everyone on the ATP Tour is going to believe they can beat Roger Federer. Fish also ended Roger’s 41 match winning streak against American male tennis players. It is the first time Roger has lost to an American man in five years since he loss to Andy Roddick in the 2003 Montreal Masters.
All of the players on the ATP Tour now know its official Roger Federer is very vulnerable right now. At least last year Roger won the Australian Open and Dubai prior to his mini slump. I believe this slump is even worst! I am very concerned here.
Roger’s priorities are all over the place. I still believe he should not of played the exhibition against Pete Sampras. Roger’s focus is not on tennis his ego has gotten too big. Perhaps this is the price Roger is paying he needs to focus on tennis and only tennis. Roger needs to realize hanging out with Hollywood stars and playing exhibitions is not right. Where is Roger’s focus? Tennis must be Roger’s top priority right now. All the players are very hungry and they want to be number one. I still believe in Roger though and I am convinced he will snap back and make a return to dominance.
I don’t know what’s going on with Roger but something just isn’t right. I believe this is the worst loss of Roger’s reign as the world number one. Mardy Fish is such a low ranked player he is currently ranked number 98 in the world. I cannot believe this! Something must be wrong with Roger he must be suffering from mononucleosis still he must be physically exhausted, ill, and mentally drained or something. Something must be wrong with Roger I cannot explain this shocking and horrible defeat. Roger is now in a slump!!!
I still have faith in Roger I believe he will comeback but I wonder if he’s lying about the severity of the mononucleosis. I mean if Roger is seriously ill he shouldn’t be playing. Mario Ancic had mono last year he went away for six months to make sure he gathered his strength back. Roger claims he’s over the mono but he just doesn’t invincible anymore. I just hope if Roger is sick he really needs to take a break and disappear and return only when he’s 110% healthy.
Gayblackcanada 
is roger in a slump or r players starting 2pick up his vulnerabilities. i agree. losing 2 mardy fish. no disrespect to mr fish but federer looked so out of sorts. he claims he is no longer sick. i guess my question is will fed b able 2 tie and go beyond sampras’s record or is this it. nadal hasn’t faired much better (hasn’t won a title), but lets face it, djokovic had the edge on him on hard court. 4 nadal, at least, things r about 2 turn around 4 him w/claycourt coming on which he will obviously win ever title, but federer, his home turf, hardcourt. i think 4 the first time, people must be thinking that djokovic is the guy 2 beat at every tournament, not federer. this doesn’t include claycourt obviously. i think federer will not b #1 much longer and nadal will most likely take it over for a short time b4 djokovic takes over both of them. unfortunately 4 me, i so dislike djokovic that c ing him in #1 spot will be a hard pill 2 swallow, but i think the fed fantasy ride is coming to a close and a new king is about to take the mens tennis throne. uck to king djokovic
@Shelia it looks like Djokovic may actually become the guy to surpass Roger because Nadal is only strong on clay. Nadal also looks worst then Federer at the moment I feel but the clay court season is coming up. Djokovic has all the weapons he has a huge serve, good forehand, backhand, return of serve. If Novak can connect on the clay everyone better watch out. Novak also has the attitude as well he is arrogant though. In order to be the world number one you need to be able to do well on all surfaces. I still wonder though is Roger still sick? The loss is absolutely bizarre! I mean no offense to Mardy Fish but this is completely a stunning result. I thought the loss to Volandri on clay last year at the Italian Open was bad but Volandri is a solid clay court player. Mardy Fish is just a journeyman.
I was floored by Fed’s lack of fight yesterday. Instead of playing to win, he played so passive that i dont think he would have taken a set off any player in the top 15 yesterday!
After the match Fed said Fish was nearly impossible to beat. This is borderline dellusional considering Fish’s biggest strength is his serve and he served a dismal 36% (that’s not a typo, 36%) for the match!
I have thought for a while that Fed has a mental weakness. This seems absurd because he’s won so much since 2004, but every now and again his insane ability could not cover up this weakness. This weakness is his belief in his ability and talent to bring him wins. The problem with this belief is that when ability and talent alone are not good enough to win, as is the case against Nadal (who I think is THE mentally toughest competitor in tennis) Fed shuts down mentally and goes into passive auto-pilot mode. The 06 and 07 French Opens against Nadal are great examples, along with 07 Monte Carlo against Nadal, Dubai 08 against Murray and obviously yesterday against Fish. The other weakness with this approach is that when talent fades with age, Fed’s main source of strength will be gone, too.
If Fed is to turn things around he is going to have to get out of his comfort zone of lazy slice returns right back to his opponent off 2nd serves and institute a more aggressive, attacking style. He will also have to want to win and give his best effort even in losses. I dont care what he says about his effort yesterday, but there is NO doubt in my mind he could have played harder yesterday.
If Fed does not get things going and has sub par results for the next few seasons and loses the way he has this year, I will no longer believe he is the G.O.A.T because the G.O.A.T. doesnt play like Fed did against Fish.
well, now federer has lost in rome. he has lost to a variety of players and i would have to say that either his confidence is shaken, he’s in a temporary slump/funk, or players are catching up w/him. djokovic othe the other hand is playing to become #1 by the end of year. it is hard 4me to watch tennis when federer is losing constantly and djokovic is winning. although rome, in my opinion was an easy victory for djokovic. 1st two matches were w/unseeded players. and then 2 retirements then the finals w/unseeded player who never made it to a masters final. my question is will djokovic continue this winning streak for as many years as federer or is he just having a good season. playing in finals day in and day out for years is a feat that few tennis players have accomplished. will djokovic be among those greats. 4me, seeing federer break sampras’ record would satisfy me completely. what worries me is if federer doesn’t win a slam this year then his chances of winning more become less and less. as much as i hate to admit, and i hope i am wrong, i think djokovic will win all 4 in 2008. he is the new federer for now