I preface this whole entry by saying I am not making light of this pandemic. I know people who have died from coronavirus and and I know people who aren’t sure how they are going to pay for food. But with anything, you have to try to find some positives in a mess to avoid getting completely depressed.
What I want to talk about is Roger Federer and how the coronavirus has impacted his legacy. I saw an article a few weeks ago talking about how the coronavirus negatively impacts the Fed because he realiastically has only 1 to 2 more good years where he has a chance to win a major. I was surprised by the article. Although I agree with that timeline, realistically, each time I watch him play I realize the chance of him winning a major is becoming slimmer by the day. He continues to have nagging injuries that crop up at various times. Then he seems to have a disappearing first serve in crucial times. Realistically, the way Djokovic is/was playing, Federer was no match. Nadal also is still too overpowering.
Both of his foes were catching his grand slam total. The young new up and coming stars are always just that, Up and coming but never come.
The saving grace of coronavirus is that time also does not work in the favor or Nadal of Djokovic. Nadal is older than his age because of the brtutal body impact style of play he has. Djokovic is also getting older, married, with kids and has shown if the momentum is not there, he can fall off the map.
Tennis is 100% about self esteem and momentum. You dont have to play to see how momentum can switch on a dime. Tennis is one of the few sports where you cannot sit on a lead. If you have a 20 point lead in basketball, you can start to kill the shot clock, etc. In tennis, each game resets, each set resets and you cant just get to 5 games and call it, you have to get to 6.
So Djokovic gets older, and losese momentum and he personally doesnt want to have a vaccine.
So ultimately, in my eyes, Roger Federer has been given a shot clock when it never existed. He got the ball with 23 seconds left in the game and with a 24 second shot clock except that the defense doesnt know the clock exists and so they are not fouling him. I now have hope that Federer will keep his lead FOREVER!