Date: 20th August 2010

Of course, lot of people if not all pundits have started questioning his abilities to win Grand slam after the sensational triumph of Czech talent Tomas Berdych but one must not forget that still there are very very few players on the planet who can beat Roger in Grand slam tourneys.

Ask any betting professionals or tennis pundits, how comfortable they are not pricing 29 years old, 16 grand slams champion as prime contender for any of his participating Tennis tournament; Not only that shows how his credibility makes them feel unsecure about their own mind and stats but also gives some signs of how capable ROGER FEDERER still is. Common, he is still world no.2.

If people ask, is the end of the Federer era nearing? Of course, it's going to be very interesting because there are around 10 guys on tour now that can beat Federer or able to think of beating him when they step into the court. Earlier, no one thought they could beat him and that fear gave him a huge advantage. Perhaps, players don't fear him anymore.

With 16 Grand Slams in his pocket, Federer surely hadn't forgotten how to win matches but what he seemed to forget is that “he is the best on planet”. But, if he believes in himself, I am sure he can realistically add at least 1 or 2 more slams before his body leaves the competitive edge.

No secret it is to the world that, the road ahead of Federer is not easy as game is experiencing the most competitive era where there are more than 5 or 6 guys challenging every grand slam they stepping in. However, it has got less to do with his game or technique but his body that needs to be held in big and long matches. Hence, he needs to keep himself as fit as a fiddle to ward off the challenge of the young guns like Djokovic, Murray, Berdych, Soderling and the warrior, world no.1 Rafael Nadal, who has slight edge among the rest due to his mental toughness and physical ability to play well for longer period.

If he cannot maintain his 100% fitness, his movement falters, if that happens like it did at Wimbledon, then he will be in deep trouble on the backhand side; Simple, because he's not in a good position to hit the ball, he can only slice the ball, and is that enough, now a days?

But, what makes him a healthy competitor still is that, he has big match experience and ability to control the game better than most, particularly in grand slams. I strongly believe that he has to push himself for this year US Open and next year’s Australian and Wimbledon slams to add 1or 2 to his GS kitty; if he does not, then he may himself begin to doubt his ability(French open is physical brutal slam so ????). By then, he will be 30 and it is unbelievably hard in open era to win a grand slam after 28 unless you are incredible or ROGER FEDERER.

There are millions out there including me still believe that he can win grand slam and by reaching Toronto masters finals he definitely shown glimpse of that; I have no doubt that he is raring to answer his critics by winning some titles.

I always believed Roger Federer is very close to being perfect if not perfect. To me, a perfect player would be one who plays the game like a true sportsman, respects the sport and its competitors. He is a player with all shots in the game, who can do everything and he can play defence, offense, serve and volley and attack and a player that is really physically and mentally unbelievable; hope you understand why, I too agree with the world who call him the LORD OF TENNIS.

Thank you,

Prasad

Feedback@ prasad.kotamsetti@gmail.com