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Can Roger Federer win an 18th Grand Slam title?

By Geoff Nichols

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Can Roger Federer win an 18th Grand Slam title?

An article on this heavily discussed topic would have been for more speculative in nature at the start of 2015. Now there are signs that Roger Federer is back to his best and we no longer have to dig deep to imagine him winning an 18th major title.

Backtrack to the Australian Open at the start of this year and Federer was downed in the third round by Andreas Seppi, the calibre and style of player that had been food and drink for the Swiss man for over a decade. Early exits in Grand Slams, once unheard of, were creeping into his game.

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However, dismiss Federer at your peril. Since his last major win at Wimbledon in 2012 there have been spells were he has been de facto written off from fans and pundits alike. What was often neglected was the desire and passion he still held for the game.

Now, as the 2015 US Open is underway, he comes in with the most recent big title under his belt from Cincinnati and is cruising through the opening rounds like old times. With a favourable draw and a recent dominance over seeded semi final opponent Andy Murray, a run to a second consecutive slam final is on the cards.

Age: 33 (8 Aug 1981)

Grand Slam Finals: 26 (6 AUS, 5 FRA, 10 WIM, 6 US)

Grand Slam Titles: 17 (5 AUS, 1 FRA, 7 WIM, 5 US)

At 33 years of age what remains incredible is his longevity at the very, very top. He is still mostly untroubled by any players outside of the top six or seven players. If Novak Djokovic wasn’t around then he would have almost certainly added to his major haul.

– Lob and Smash 2015 Grand Slam Predictions – 

Figuring out how to beat Djokovic, which will always be a problem that arises in the finals of events whilst Federer remains the world number two, is mightily difficult but one that seems to be inspiring Federer. The changes he is making to his game are most likely geared towards the latter stages of slams.

That includes running in on the return of serve, which has been a feature of his game in recent weeks. It is extraordinary to watch, especially how Federer makes it look so simple when clearly it is not. From a tactical perspective it is genius. Rob the opponent of rhythm on their serve and shorten the points.

Roger Federer’s Recent Grand Slam History

Tournament20052006200720082009201020112012201320142015
Aus OpenSFWWSFFWSFSFSFSF3R
French OpenSFFFFWQFFSFQF4RQF
WimbledonWWWFWQFQFW2RFF
US OpenWWWWFSFSFQF4RSF–

Wimbledon 2015 Semi Final

Federer fans must have been in dream land during the Wimbledon semi final against Andy Murray. They would have been entitled to be hesitant given the pair’s recent head to head on grass and in five set matches, yet Federer pulled out all the stops.

– Andy Murray having career year in 2015 – 

He produced a performance as close to being unbeatable as I think I have ever seen. Murray was in close to the best form of his own career, but couldn’t touch Federer on the day. If he can replicate that at the tail end of this US Open, he could be lifting another title in New York.

Conclusion

It is clear that once again Roger Federer is playing at an extremely high level. The challenge these days is peaking at the right time and having enough in the tank at the end of a fortnight of seven matches. The idea of having bigger challenges round by round does not apply here.

Federer would happily cruise through to the semi finals untroubled, even if it meant he hadn’t really got into his own rhythm. He needs to come into the closing stages as fresh as possible and if he can do that then he is certainly in with a shout of an 18th major title.

Please do share your thoughts in the poll below, as well as in the comments and on Twitter.

Next: Wimbledon 2015: Top 5 Upsets in Men's Draw

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