Times have changed

Photo courtesy of TopNews.in.

By Josh Kramer

All day I have been absolutely perplexed by what occurred at the All England Club.  In all honesty I have been beside myself.  The great Roger Federer was ahead two sets to zero on a solid, but not great, Jo-Wilfried Songa.  This was the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.  Plus Roger was not going up against his arch nemesis Rafael Nadal.  Put this match in the books right?

Not so fast my friends.  Despite probably having nearly as good of a chance at winning the lottery than seeing Roger Federer squander a two sets to zero lead at the All England Club, the unthinkable happened.  This upset seemed to be of a similar magnitude of Rocky Balboa going the distance with Apollo Creed, or Buster Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson.  Upsets like these are the reason why sports are not just like watching a DVD (ask Andy Roddick).  Federer does not blow leads like that.  In his illustrious career, he was 178-0 when going up two sets to zero in Grand Slam matches.  Well now he is 178-1.

All great things must come to an end.  And though Roger Federer is perhaps the greatest player of all time, he is no longer the man he once used to be. Kryptonite has not only been found, but it has been passed around to a select few.

Roger Federer turns 30 in August.  He has not won a Grand Slam title since the 2010 Australian Open.  It has been an absolute pleasure getting to watch this artist, because that is what he is, dominate the great sport of tennis for as long as he has been able to.  Ever heard the expression that “All good things must come to an end.”  Or that “Heroes never die?”  Well for Roger sadly, the good is coming to an end, at least on court achievement wise.  And he is no longer the hero on the court that we once knew and loved.

Rafael Nadal used to be the only man who possessed the Kryptonite for Roger Federer.  Now there are at least a hand full of players that have the right potion to thwart the former super human.

With the Williams’ sister reign over and now the steady decline of Roger Federer, times have changed in the tennis world.

Stay tuned for the next edition of TheSportsKraze.

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