CAMELOT FANTASIES

can Federer win another Wimbledon? what will it take? do you believe he is moving in the right direction. i thought he did well in Melbourne considering he is trying out a new racquet and he has a brand new coach.

there were a lot of positives from my own vantage point. i believe he is going to have a great year in 2014.

The short answer is yes he can if things go right for him, such as health and luck and confidence.   Will he?  I don't know.  Too many things can happen.  It's a tougher ask these days for him to be consistent enough throughout a long tournament to make it to a final, but I would never be foolish enough to count out the co-record holder at Wimbledon Championships with 7 titles, who is obviously motivated to stand alone in history. 

He played well enough to make it to the semifinal at the 2014 Australian Open, so it appears he has recovered a good portion of his form and fitness, and I believe him when he says he won't be 100% until April or May.  I think he needs at least one title somewhere along the way to help his confidence, as anyone else does.  But so much can happen between now and then, who can tell?  There are many other top players also gunning for titles, so he is not playing in a vacuum. 

It wouldn't hurt him to also listen to his compatriot's coach, Magnus Norman, who appears to be a superb coach in instilling confidence and playing in the moment, rather than playing according to the scoreboard, as Federer admittedly does.  From my observations, Norman is probably the best coach at getting a player to perform at his maximum level in the toughest matches. 

What he did for Wawrinka is almost unbelievable.  He took a top 20 player last year who had won only 3 250 titles, was #17 in the world, but with a lot of talent,  and he helped make him into a slam winner and #3 in the world as of today.  He not only helped him with the mental side, but with fitness.  Stan has also improved the consistency of his shot-making, which may also have come from his increased belief and fitness.   Who was Robin Soderling's coach when he beat Rafa at Roland Garros?  Magnus Norman.  Coming into 2014, Wawrinka's combined record against Djokovic and Nadal was 2 wins (to Nole), 27 losses.  Things obviously turned around for him last year, challenging Djokovic  in very close 5 set matches in the AO and USO.  Now he just beat both of them in the 2014 Australian Open. Just incredible.

In comparison, and not to minimize the achievement, but I believe Ivan Lendl's job was far easier with the already 4 time slam finalist Andrew Murray,  as he only had to nudge him a little higher to help get him to the slam winning level.

Getting back to Roger Federer, I have learned to listen to what he says to us.  When he said last year would be "transition" year,  I interpreted that to be that he would ease off his schedule a bit, try some different things, and not to expect him to win much.  When Roger said in 2012 after losing to Tommy Haas in the final at Halle, that he would be very difficult to beat at Wimbledon (click on Watch it Now), I was one of the few who believed him, while others were dismissing him because of his losses in Rome and Roland Garros to Novak Djokovic.  Tommy  Haas lost in the first round at Wimbledon to his compatriot, Kohlschreiber, while Roger Federer came through to beat Djokovic in the semifinal and beat Andy Murray in the final to win it all.

I will be difficult to beat

So just listen to what he has to say as this year goes on...

Respectfully,
masterclass