Whenever we talk about R.Federer achievements, haters pin point the era he ruled in. Among the haters, the era itself is known as the 'WEAK ERA' ... Lets see how weak that era really was.
2005 was Nadal's break through year in which he won his first French open and 11 titles as a whole which were the most number of titles tied with Federer's 11 and he rose in the ATP rankings to World Number 2 Spot... So after 2005 I guess it would be really bizarre if someone thinks that the WEAK ERA prevailed ....
Now lets begin with analyzing the break through years of Federer before the entry of the King Of Clay i.e 2003 & 2004
2004 AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Champion : Roger Federer
Runner Up : Marat Safin
On the route to his first Australian Open title, Federer came across tough opponents in the likes of Marat Safin,David Nalbandian,Lleyton hewitt ,Juan Ferrero
Marat Safin : One of the few players to have won a G.Slam in Fed-Nadal dominance .... A player who defeated Pete Sampras in US open final (2000) in straight sets ... A player who defeated Novak Djokovic in Wimbledon (2008) and reached the semi finals .... He reached the final against Federer after defeating Andy Roddick and Andre Aggasi . Andy Roddick was World Number 1 at this point and is by far more competitive than Milos Raonic of today ... If Novak's fan call Milos Raonic a strong opponent and Andy Roddick a weak one then this clearly indicates biased thinking ... :-)
David Nalbandian : 2005 ATP World tour Final winner .... 2004,2006 french open finalist ... Someone who smacked Nadal in straight sets in 2007 Paris Masters Final .... Having a 7-0 record against Richard Gasquet makes him far more competetive than the latter .... But again Djokovic's encounter with Richard Gasquet in Wimbledon semifinals was a legitimate competition but Federer's encounter with Nalbandian in 2004 Aus Open quarter finals was apathic
Lleyton Hewitt : The youngest world number 1 ... Termed as one of the best shot selectors in the history of the game ... US open winner in 2001 against Pete Sampras .... But again there will be some people who'll say that the reason Lleyton won US open was because Pete was old but When djokovic won against Federer twice in Wimbledon final they give djokovic full credit .... Age has not stopped federer from achieving which is one of the reasons why Federer is great but there are fan bases generating excuses
2004 WIMBLEDON
Champion : Roger Federer
Runner Up : Andy Roddick
Federer's route to championship includes encountering : Lleyton Hewitt,Roddick and Ivo Karlovic
We all know how good server Ivo Karlovic is . In 2015 Djokovic has lost only 5 matches and among those 5 is a loss to Ivo Karlovic ... Already mentioned lleyton hewitt and roddick
Roddick to this day holds a winning record against Djokovic .. Having won 5 of their 9 meetings
Roddick thrashed Djokovic in straight sets in Cincinnati QF (2010) , Rogers Cup Q.F (2009) , Indian Well Q.F (2009) . And who can forget the Australian Open Q.F between Djokovic and Roddick in 2009 which ended with Djokovic quitting after having a heavy beating by one of the best servers in the world
So Roddick was weak part in Federer's break through era but a strong one in Djokovic's era . or perhaps find a better excuse
2004 US OPEN
Champion : Roger Federer
Runner Up : Lleyton Hewitt
Route to championship : Hewitt, Aggasi , Tim Henman and Marcos Baghdatis who was a Qualifier but still as competitive as Kyrgios was in wimbledon 2014
And this is Lleyton Hewitt in his peak days someone who had a winning record against Federer in those days . But again Federer managed to pull it off in the finals
2003 WIMBLEDON
Champion : Roger Federer
Runner Up : Mark Philippoussis
Route to Championship : Fernando Lopez , Philippoussis , Andy Roddick
Mark Philipoussis in his peak days was as good as Andy Murray .. His backhand and movement on the court was better than many players playing nowadays
When Nadal came across Tomas Berdycch in 2010 wimbledon final it was a fair competitive match but when Federer came across Mark Philippousis at an age of just 22 and with Mark playing his best tennis was apathic ... Maybe you need to be more logical
Federer has always been there at the top all his way to the finals but if Djokovic and Nadal were so inconsistent or injury prone in Federer's glory days then it's not federer's fault
2005 Tennis Season
Federer won wimbledon by defeating Roddick,Hewitt and Olympics silver medalist Fernando Gonzalez whereas Nadal despite of being the 4th Seed fell to Gilles Muller who later lost to Richard Gasquet in the next round. I guess at this point Federer should be given credit for his consistency. If Nadal and others weren't able to keep pace with Federer's consistency then it's their fault. Physical fitness is one of the main components of a true champion in which field Federer has been best till this day.
In US open federer defeated Aggasi,Hewitt,Nalbandian
Despite of being the 4th Seed Djokovic lost to F.Verdasco in Q.F and Nadal Lost to a Wild Card entry James Blake
2006 Tennis Season
Federer won the Australian Open ... On the other hand Nadal faced fitness issues and he quitted
Federer defeated in form Marcos Baghdatis,who defeated David Nalbandian in an epic 5 set Semi Final , 5th Seed and 2011 WT Final winner Nikolay Davydenko
Federer defeated Nadal in 2006 wimbledon Final
Federer defeated Roddick,Davydenko (who defeated Murray on his way to semis), James blake
Djokovic fell to Lleyton Hewitt and despite of being 2nd seed , Nadal fell to unseeded jiri novak
2007 Tennis Season
Federer won Australian Open by defeating the dangerous M.Youzhny,Novak Djokovic himself , In form Andy Roddick and Tommy Robredo and the 2008 Olympics silver medalist Fernando Gonzalez to whom Nadal lost in this Aus Open Q.F
In 2007 Wimbledon final Federer defeated Nadal in an epic match . Djokovic on the other hand retired against Nadal in the semi finals
In 2007 US open ... Federer won by defeating Djokovic in the final and by defeating Roddick,Davydenko,Isner,F.Lopez on course to the title
2008 Tennis Season
Federer won 2008 US open by defeating Murray in the final and Djokovic in the semi final , Whereas Nadal lost to Murray in the semi finals
In most of the cases after 2005 , Nadal and Djokovic failed to perform against weak opponents causing somewhat easier opponents for Federer to face.
2009 Tennis Season
Federer won French open by defeating Robin Soldering in the final, Delpo in the semis and Monfilis in the Q.F . Nadal on the other hand lost to the ultimate runner up Robin Soldering and Djokovic despite of being the 4th seed couldn't bear the rock solid serve of Kohlschreiber
Federer won wimbledon defeating Roddick in the finals and winning against the likes of Robin Soldering ,Andy Roddick , Tommy Haas and Ivo Karlovic
Whereas Djokovic lost to Tommy Haas
2010 Tennis Season
Federer defeated Murray, Tsonga ,Davydenko on his way to his 16th title whereas Djokovic fell to Tsonga and Nadal to Murray
2012 Tennis season
Federer won his 17th and Last so far G.Slam at the age of 31 defeating Murray and Djokovic. Nadal on the other hand lost in the 2nd round against Lukas Rosol
Federer came runner up 4 times in French Open, Losing to Nadal in all occassions. In 2008 Federer lost to Nadal in Wimbledon final which is regarded as the best tennis match ever. He lost twice to Djokovic in wimbledon final at an age of 33 and 34 respectively and yet gave a tough competition. He lost to Juan del porto in US open final (2009) who smacked Nadal in straight sets in the semi finals . Federer lost to Nadal in 2009 Aus Open final which was one more hard fought battle.
Consistency and Physical fitness is what lead Federer to the stage where he can be termed as the best player not some weak era
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