By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY
Published: March 8, 2008
Roger Federer’s most intriguing season continues on Monday with a singles match in New York that will not count in the rankings but has still managed to sell out 19,000 seats in Madison Square Garden.

Federer’s latest exhibition duel with the now-retired Pete Sampras is just that: an exhibition. But it comes at a particularly sensitive stage of Federer’s brilliant career — one in which he has looked surprisingly vulnerable to the slings, arrows and energy of the younger generation.

He has played just two tournaments in 2008 and lost twice to 20-year-olds, with Novak Djokovic manhandling him in straight sets in the semifinals of the Australian Open and Andy Murray upsetting him in a tighter match this week in the first round in Dubai after Federer had taken a five-week break from competition.

In both defeats, Federer looked less fleet and fluid than usual and also less than convincing with his signature forehand.

Crisis? Beginning of the end of his long reign? Perhaps, but Federer, as it turns out, has not been practicing full disclosure until now.

At age 26, he has not just been struggling with young, gifted and hungry opposition. He has also been struggling with his health.

Last month, after falling ill for the third time in six weeks, he underwent extensive tests in his native Switzerland and in his part-time residence, Dubai. According to Federer, the conclusion was that he had contracted mononucleosis.

Federer had already experienced food poisoning before the Australian Open, which severely disrupted his preparation for that tournament, eventually won by Djokovic. But Federer, who complained of feeling sluggish during the Open, said it now appears that the mononucleosis was the more serious issue.

“The doctors said I must have had it for at least six weeks, which went all the way back to December,” Federer said in a telephone interview from Dubai, explaining that he had now been medically cleared to compete.

Mononucleosis is an infection caused by the Epstein-Barr virus. It can produce flu-like symptoms and extreme, lingering fatigue. Physicians often discourage those with mononucleosis from taking part in intense physical activity because of the risk of rupturing the spleen, which can become enlarged because of the infection.

“When I heard it was mono, I was actually even more happy to have made the semifinals of the Australian Open, because probably a doctor would have said, ‘You’re not allowed or can’t play,’ ” Federer said.

But Federer was still quite concerned initially. He was well aware that mononucleosis forced Mario Ancic, a former top-10 player from Croatia, to miss six months of the 2007 season, including Wimbledon.

“There was a soccer player in my home club in Switzerland who was out for two years,” Federer said. “You hear two years, and you hear six months. So I was like, oh my God.’ ”

Federer said he was unable to practice for about 10 days in February and received medical clearance to begin training normally five days before the tournament in Dubai began on March 3.

“They weren’t sure I was over it, but now I’m creating antibodies, and this really shows you are over it,” he said. “But I lost a lot of fitness. I was feeling so great in December up until the moment I got sick, so this has been my problem the last couple weeks: really getting back on track. I haven’t practiced and couldn’t really work out the way I wanted to, because you have to be very careful with mono.”

Federer said he came down with a fever in December before traveling to Australia but sought no medical treatment. After his health problems in Australia, he took a long-planned two-week break from the game, which included attending the Super Bowl. But he said he soon fell ill with flu-like symptoms again and returned to Switzerland for tests.

“I had felt great the day before and then awful the next day,” he said. “And this is really when I said,: ‘O.K., something is wrong. I have to totally check things out here.’ ”

Even in perfect health, Federer was entering what looked like the most challenging season of his career. His struggles have come amid the emergence of Djokovic and with an overstuffed calendar that includes the Olympic tournament in Beijing. He is still on a quest to win his first French Open, the only Grand Slam singles title he lacks, and also will be attempting to break his tie in the record books with Bjorn Borg by winning a sixth straight Wimbledon.

Now, 2008 looks even more challenging, and it should be fine theater to see how a champion accustomed to winning big titles without much adversity will react.

“I hope I didn’t lose too much energy through what I’ve been through the last few months, but honestly I’m still positive about it,” he said. “In some ways it only makes me more motivated to lose sometimes, and now I finally have the green light and finally I can give 100 percent in practice again, because it wasn’t fun sort of being there sort of halfway. I didn’t enjoy that too much. But again, it was interesting, and you’ve got to go through those moments, as well. I know that. Through a career, a long career maybe as No. 1, you have to go through injuries and sicknesses.”

Until now, Federer has largely been spared major health concerns and has played in 33 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, winning 12 of them, 2 short of Sampras’s career record. He won three of the four major titles in 2006 and did the same in 2007. But despite his stuttering start in 2008, he said it was too early to claim that his era of dominance was ending.

“I don’t think it’s fair to assess it this way,” he said. “For me, it was only a matter of time before the younger guys were going to come up. Now that they’re here, they’re good and everything, but I’m still No. 1 in the world.”

He said those players were doing well, but he added: “I think it would be very premature, almost a little bit rude toward me because of everything I’ve already done over the last few years. I think it’s not fair if you just say, ‘The guy has lost two matches, played two tournaments and didn’t win both, and it’s over for him.’ ”

Questioned on the value of playing an exhibition, even for a huge payday, at this now-delicate stage of the season, Federer said he had no regrets and actually hoped it would give him some match practice heading into the Masters Series event next week in Indian Wells, Calif.

Federer agreed to the Madison Square Garden match after he and Sampras became friends while playing three exhibitions in Asia late last year. The 36-year-old Sampras generated some unexpected buzz by winning the third contest on a very quick indoor court.

Federer said he did not mention the mononucleosis until now because he did not want to detract from victories by Djokovic or Murray. But Federer was still criticized in the British news media for being uncharitable in defeat after he commented in Dubai that Murray had not changed his game in the past two years and was surprised at how defensively he was playing.

Federer, who said he has now learned the English term “sour grapes,” said he was trying only to provide “constructive criticism” and did not mean to imply that he did not respect Murray’s game.

“He beat me after all,” Federer said. “It’s unfortunate, because that’s not what I meant at all.”

He added: “I’ve always thought he was one of the most talented ones of the whole group, even more talented than Djokovic to be honest. I thought he would do the most first before Djokovic, but Djokovic played really well the last year and started this year unbelievably.”

Backtracking

Thanks for the article Brakkus. That mono can be bad-when I was in grade 6 a girl in my class got it and was out of school for months-the teacher had to get her a tutor.

Yesterday Rafael Nadal congratulated Andy Roddick right after his defeat, and today Novak Djokovic who lost too embraced him, which was very fair-play :ok:. And yet we all know how important this tournament was for Rafa and Nole since they are only a few points behind Roger. This is to me a big difference with Federer who has become less fair-play since his number 1 ranking is in danger.

I used to like Roger Federer because he's very talented, and above all very humble and nice with his opponents. But today I really don't know what to think. Maybe he was nice because he was always winning after all ? :shrug:

I think maybe that the point I brought up about Federer being quite sensitive has been his undoing here.
I have no doubt this is all truthful.As a top sportsman you don't send out the message that your weak when a grandslam is on the line.
As we know comments taken out of context can be placed so it looks bad.That's the media.
Also although it's a fact that Federer hasn't been at his very best for the better part of nearly a year,he still won some pretty big titles last year.

At the moment reading this you can sense the hurt,but it's this sort of adversity that tests a champions mettle.
Federer is still a nice guy,he has been naive to the power of the press if that's the crime.Maybe he will learn that when you are on top everyone wants to love you and laud you.However those same individuals sensing weakness can tear you down as quick as they built you up.

Federer is and always will be a class act,but like all of us is bound to make some mistakes along the way.

Yes, since he decided to play without a coach (1 year ago), his results have decreased even if, like you said, he still won very big titles. He lost once more vs Nadal in Roland Garros, won Wimbledon after a thrilling 5 sets match vs the same Nadal. But then in the Australian Open he had a lot of difficulties beating Janko Tipsarevich who was only 40th in the world (5 sets) then lost in semi-finals in only 3 sets vs 20-year old Novak Djokovic. He said he was ill but I'm not sure it explains everything, because in Dubai which he won 3 times consecutively, he lost in the first round.

So I think Roger Federer even if he's very talented should take a coach again. Someone that would analyse the game of his future opponents and give Roger advice on how to play. Because even when you are very strong it's always good to have information about your future opponents (for example Murray that he met only twice before), and to have a coach to tell you if you should improve your backhand/forehand, etc.

Maybe Fed was a little too confident about himself ?

What do you think about it Brakkus ?

I'm actually one of the band who think he should have a coach.This article does explain the last month or so,but for me he does need perhaps a fresh perspective,because is there anyone on his current team that tells him what he did right and wrong in matches?

He needs a coach who understands his best game on each surface particulary clay,where sometimes he seems to waste opportunities to move forward,but then I think he does this on hard courts as well,where he could take more risks with his ability to hit not just with pace,but the accuracy to find sidelines with his forehand.

Concerning the mononucleosis Roger Federer is "suffering from", I think it is very surprising. I don't know if many of you have ever suffered from it (I hope not) but when you have it it is virtually impossible to make intensive physical activities. But Roger went through the the 1st round of Melbourne to the semi-finals, even playing a 5 sets match of nearly 4 hours :blink: even a heathy people would be exhausted at the end ...

I'm not saying Roger Federer is pretending but if what he says is true, and that he keeps joining tournaments (Indian Wells on monday, etc.) then it will be very worrying for his career and ABOVE ALL for his health ! In my opinion he had better give up and rest now before having to leave the courts for 6 months or more. But once again, I am very surprised by this news.

Agree Fred,because they have been talking about this on other forums.Perhaps it is a mild case,but I don't know enough about it to speculate whether he is telling the truth.

I much doubt Federer would come with excuses like mononucleose if it was not the case. Like Nadal, they try to hide their health problems rather than display them. And whether it was Mono or else, the virus could be seen with a naked eye through Fed's unusual sluggishness.

This is Roger's announcment on RF.com

Dear fans

As you can imagine the beginning of this season has been rather tough for me. 2007 ended with an illness which cost me a lot of energy. I was unable to play at the beginning of January. I was still taking antibiotics five days before the Australian Open, making a recovery in time for the tournament impossible. During the time in Melbourne I felt slow and kept looking for possible reasons for that – without finding an answer.

Some time later, during my holidays in Switzerland, I became severely ill again. I went to the hospital straight away to get further tests done. And it was at this time that they found out what was bothering me all along: mononucleosis. I had had it for six weeks already, meaning it would normally be over.

It was relieving to finally know why I had felt weak in Australia and also later on during my holidays. So the good news really is to be certain of what has occurred. The bad news is that I have quite some catching up to do in terms of fitness as I am not in the physical state that I would normally be in at this time of the year.

I have known for 10 days now that the illness is over. I have been back to exercising at maximum level since then, before that it had only been moderate. Unfortunately that meant that I only had about three days of intense training before Dubai.
The match I played against Andy Murray in Dubai was a good one – taking into consideration the circumstances. My expectations weren’t all too high, it was a tough draw and Andy certainly played an excellent match.

Pierre Paganini, my physical coach, had joined me in Dubai for three days to assist me with some serious training sessions. That helped a lot and I must say that I already feel strong again. I will definitely need more training in Indian Wells after the match against Pete Sampras in New York. After that, Pierre Paganini will meet up with me again in Miami for another three days of hard work. The main issue now is to get 100% fit and make up for all the training I missed out on.

I will be traveling to New York this weekend and I am really looking forward to the match against Pete. The event has been sold out for quite some time already. We will be competing in front of a crowd of 19’000 - what an atmosphere!

Thank you for all your continued support and see you all soon,

Roger

I would agree - Fed just doesnt strike me the type to make something like this up - and i am sure you can get varying degrees of this as you can most illnesses - look at the differences in the examples he gave, one person was out for six months, another two years...

Reading that interview (thanks Brakkus) I do feel sorry for Fed - having the weight of so much expectation on you must mean you dont always consider your health first and he risked making things much worse for himself by ignoring it to begin with and playing on with it...

I did like the comment about Roger now having learnt the English expression 'sour grapes'! Whether he meant it as constructive criticism or not, I am sure he has also re-learnt the value of not saying what is exactly in your head.

I hope he is now well on the way to recovery and regains his strength and confidence - I want to see him take the french this year!

For a start; stop playing those completely superfluous exhibition matches! :angry:

The criticism Roger got after his interview was quite over the top.
The problem is some people not only are delighted to see him lose, they want to see him beg for more afterwards.
Personally I think Murray should take Roger’s remarks as a complement. Roger clearly has expectations towards Murray. It isn’t that bad when the GOAT is saying to you; “you beat me, but you can do better than that”, is it?

well, I took the comment about him learning the expression as rather tongue in cheek :shrug:

I dont have a problem with the comments people have made about Roger after the stuff with Andy, because I think everyone is entitled to their opinion about it and shouldnt be shouted down if they feel he was out of order. Thats a general comment by the way as I have seen some right old shouting matches going on across various boards!

For all I know Murray did take the comments from Fed as a compliment - who can say? And the interview that Brakkus has posted does make it seem that Fed has some expectation towards Murray - but its sooo easy to say that after the fact and you are looking to do damage control.

As I say, whether he meant it or not - the way it came out in all the articles did make the comments sound less than gracious. I said at the time that its hard to comment totally without being able to see the whole context and that I hoped these comments were born out of nothing more than misdirected frustation at his own game - but its easy to see why people got quite cross about the whole thing.

I have noticed that since january everytime Roger loses, he says he was ill. After the Australian Open he said he was suffering from a stomach virus. After Dubaï he said he has mononucleosis. Added to the fact that he criticized Andy Murray (I don't believe his words were taken out of the context as they were 100% clear), I simply think that Roger can't cope with defeats anymore. When he was losing 5 or 6 times per year it was easy for him to be fair-play but now that his 1st position is in danger (Nadal and Nole are approaching) we're starting to see his real face.

PS : My message is 100% subjective since I'm a fan of Nadal :D

To be fair, no champion likes losing - but let's put matters into perspective here, Sampras once lost 18 times in one season and stil finished the season as YE number 1. The bottom line is, Federer has been ill and it's affected his play. He may have been rash with his comments about Murray - but surely we have to lend some credence to what he said when Murray lost to Davydenko :shrug:

I seriously doubt Federer would be using mono as an excuse for a loss - there's one thing having a case of sour grapes, and another when you totally invent a quite serious illness!

:ok: People are making a big thing of Federers comments but far more important that Federer is fully fit for the rest of the year and the same goes for Nadal and his foot injury .

I disagree that people are making a big thing of it. People have just noted the post match comments as being ungracious in defeat, and dress them up in any way you like that is exactly what they are. I don't see that as a "big thing" to be honest, it's just the truth. No matter which player said that it would have been brought up.

With regards to the mononucleosis I hope Roger gets a lot better soon.

I certainly think its equally ungracious to insinuate that Fed is a liar ... if that's what's implied by some who think he hasn't had glandular fever. You can have a mild case of it - you can be clear of the virus in a month ... or it can take several months. An office colleague was off work for 3 months with it, only returning part-time for a few weeks after that.

And if he's trying to make amends for his comments on Murray, well, that's good enough for me. No need to go overboard though by saying he thinks he's more talented than Joker :rolleyes:

Yeah I'd agree that it is equally out of order to suggest Fed is lying.

So he compliments Murray than criticises Djokovic.........

Great way to reclaim your dignity :rolleyes:

We will see how well Federer has recovered by the crazy schedule he is up against between now and September.

It's no wonder the very best players in Tennis retire so early compared to other sports. Due to the greed of money that won't change anytime soon (just too many events in a crowded calendar) . I'll be amazed if Federer gets through to Septemebr unscathed - I will be more amazed if he wins loads of tournaments. To me this looks a serious situation.

I still find it strange he is playing an exhibition on Monday - I hope that's the last one, I'm fed up of it now.

By the way what year did Sampras lose 18 matches and finish number 1? Was it 1998? he only wn 4 tournaments that year, one on grass, hardcourt, green clay and carpet.

Actually thinking of that, it's worth looking at the comparisons between careers again: http://www.tennis28.com/studies/Federer_Sampras.html

As you can see, they have around the same number of titles at this stage, the same number of weeks at number 1 and around the same winning percentage. I said on Svetlana fans fourm in November that Sampras level dropped in 1998 after having an excellent 1997 when he won 8 tournaments including two majors and I felt the same thing might happen to Federer in 2008.

So let's see what happens in 2008.

Yes, I think so - need to double check.

That's interesting to know. It'll be an interesting 2008, for sure. There are many 'if' factors to make it difficult to make any kind of reliable prediction 'if the mono is serious...if Djoko/Nadal can pose more challenges...if he's just rusty' etc etc. I'll be interested to see how Fed performs in the next couple of Masters - apparently fully fit, getting some match practice under his belt, getting his rhythm back. He's still the man to beat, and I am sure he'll maintain a level of dominance, but by his own impossibly high standards, there has to be some small drop.

Agree on the exhos - enough is enough, now.

It is odd if he's still doing the exhibition match, if he isn't 100%

But Federer is more open to criticism than most other players because such high standards are expected of him on and off the court . Thats the point .

But it was unexpected to hear Roger say "in a 15-year career you want to look to win a point more often rather than wait for the other guy to miss." He really seemed to be arrogant, and the worse part is that he lost his match. When you lose, even more than when you win, you're supposed to be humble. It was really :nope: So it hasn't much to do with "high standards off the court" in my opinion.

Well I hope we'll find again the nice and talented Roger we used to know :pray: :ok: :ok: :ok:

Do you mean more open to criticism on this board? I've seen Nadal ridiculed for his behaviour on court, especially time taken between points. I've seen Djoko and his family behaviour criticised. Murray and his on and on court behaviour has been criticised also. I don't see that Federer has been any more open to criticism than any of them.

He said something ungracious and people have labelled it as that. Had any of the above players said the same they would have been criticised in the same manner on this board. If you are talking about the media, then that's probably another thing.

Its just the way everything he says comes under so much scrutiny , so yes I probably meant the media .Im not saying his comments werent ungracious , but Ill reserve judgement until he makes a habit of it .

One example from this board :Remember the Althea Gibson thread and how one remark about 'she was before my time' came in for so much criticism from some people. If anyone else had said that would it even be mentioned? Federer's supposed to be the ambassador for the game which you could hardly say about Murray or the Djokovics.

Actually, Im not a big fan of Nadal or some of his on court behaviour but I enjoy his interviews where he comes across as a much quieter , nice guy.

I am in agreement over the Althea Gibson thread. That was much ado about nothing and Federer should never have been criticised for that, and I said so at the time. I didn't see that as negatvie or ungracious but I did with his comments about Murray. Saying that I do tip my cap to him for coming out and crediting Murray since.

But I'd say as Djoko now has a slam under his belt he is certainly seen as more of an ambassador for the sport, and this will be more so as he ages.

Federer lost quite a few times to Nadal a couple of years ago . Were there any arrogant /ungracious comments then ? :unsure: A 6-1 H2H must have been hard to take .

I have to agree with this.I mean when serena gives excuses for her losses she's bitterly criticized. I'm saying this as a huge, huge Ju fan but I have to admit that she was bitterly criticized for all her defeats when she gave umpteen excuses for her losses against Ju. i was really pissed off after these comments .On the other hand when Fed makes such comments its considered to be alright? I mean Fed is considered such a perfect ambassador for the sport,shows so much dignity and and shows so much respect to the former players and all and when such a champion falls to commenting on other players(even though he says that he did not mean it) after defeats to them, it certainly is a case of the "grapes are sour". this is where I have to agree with frederic when he says that nadal :wub: and Nole are such a sport.
And above all if he knew that he wasn't well before the start of the Dubai open why on earth did he say that he was perfectly alright and that he was ready for all opposition? Whatever the case may be his forehand seems no longer to be the weapon that it once was. We have already witnessed its downfall in RG 2007 and perhaps showed the brilliance in the YEC but again seems to be fading. All greats are bound to fall and it would do Fed better if he takes his defeats more graciously I'm not against the great man in anyway infact I've admired his greatness for ever so long but I just hope that he recovers quickly from whatever he is suffering from and see him play well once again but one thing has to be kept in mind..vintage federer is hard to find but its not panic time yet. I just pray that the great guy will come back stronger and probably silence me :D

Even though a loss is a loss, I really think we can't mix up a loss to Canas or Murray with a loss versus Nalbandian, Safin for instance. Federer gets frustrated playing a game based essentially on physicality. It's a challenge he is well used to but if is not physically 100%, he is bound to be absorbing some negative energy while playing those games but sooner or later he will spit it out. Let's not forget the "one dimensional" comment after Rome and other losses v Nadal. In that respect he is not different than before. The difference now is that he has not got the level of energy and feels probably very vulnerable to these kinds of games, where he is asked to make winners and UEs while the opponent simply adds them up hopes for a negative balance. This is one criticism many made regarding Murray's game and we can see, he has been at the mercy of an in-form player.

Federer was frustrated, that made him ungracious, but that applies to the remaining 6 billions of us as well. No more no less.

How do you propose Federer to beat these types of players in future? These are essentially players who don't give up the fight. how should Federer counter this? After all, this is his job.

When teams travel to Anfiled to play Liverpool in the last 15 years, they tend to put lots of players behind the ball, and Liverpool have struggled to break down teams like that in that past and have dropped lots of points at home. At the same time, these sides to go Old Trafford to play Manchester Utd employing the same tactics and usually get thrashed. Mancehester Utd approach these teams with a very positive frame of mind, to attack them from beginning to end.

So considering these are top class players and a lot of people claim Federer to be the best, how do you think he should deal with these players?

I am sure you know Laurie how Federer can beat those guys. His record against Hewitt speaks for itself and despite the phenomen that was Nadal up to last year, Federer also got the better of him. He has the key to these players. Hasn't he won 12 slams and over 50 tournments is the last 4 years? He said when he started to inflict hewitt consistent lessons that he was physical prepared to grind in out against those types of players and this is why he got this uprecedented great run that we have seen from him.

However, having Mononucleose, flue, or else is going to affect him considerably. His frustration and bitter words, I would think, comes from the fact that he knows how to beat them but physically can't currently do it.

I also don't think that Roger (or anyone else for that matter) would lie about being sick. :ill: But if it's as serious as he's making it sound in his note on the webpage then he should-dare I say it?-take some more time off until he is 100% well. I know that will cost him his number 1 ranking, and that's probably why he won't do it.
Okay go ahead & throw the barbs at me :hide:

You are absoluetly correct.

He's too afraid not to do that for fear of losing the no 1 ranking and the momentum of been competitive in the slams. That's why I said yesterday this is a serious situation. If Federer gets this wrong it will cost a lot more in the long run.

This year has become even more interesting than it was shaping up to be before the Australian open. As Tenez will tell you, I had a feeling Federer wouldn't win the Aussie in January. I think he's in for a tough 6 months - if he comes through this he will be the best.

I think if Federer is unwell he really would do best to take some time out, but like a couple of people have said, that would endanger his number 1 ranking. But if he's going to have to miss tournaments he'd do best to miss either IW or Miami simply as he doesn't have as many points to defend here :shrug:

Also, I don't know that anyone on this thread has suggested that Fed is lying - simply that they're surprised that he was able to play at all. The article says it gives "flu-like symptoms," well when I've had the flu i've found it tiring walking upstairs let alone playing a tennis match. So i'm impressed that Roger has managed anything at all :o

i am a bit surprised that he's mentioned this though - i wonder if there's something psychological in it. I mean, he's not had a great start to the year, has perhaps lost a bit of his aura of invincibility - by saying that he's been unwell it maybe adds some doubt in to players' minds over whether he would have been beaten if he'd been full fitness :shrug:

Again, I like your thoughts. The Joker got close at the US open, Nadal got close at Wimbledon, these players were gaining confidence whether Federer was fully fit or not as time went on. Plus Nalbandian beat him twice in succession.

By the way, anyone watching tonight's exhibition against Pete?

I agree - players have been getting close to Fed for a while, and lest we forget his disastrous IW and Miami last year :shrug: I'm just intrigued that he's decided to announce that he's recovering from an illness which makes him tired quickly - if he's not entirely recovered then surely he's giving his opponents a huge advantage by letting them know about this?

Oh, and more to the point, why is Federer playing an exhibition match with Sampras if he's not well? If he's saying he was unwell at Dubai then surely it would make more sense if he didn't bother with this match and focused on the upcoming master's events. :unsure: