Roger Federer – Is this the end?

A gentleman both on and off the court and one of the greatest Tennis players of all time, if not the greatest.

Roger and Stakhovsky at the end of the match.

The defending Champion at Wimbledon lost to unknown Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 7-5, 7-6 (7-5). This was the first time that the 27 year old had beaten a top ten player and what a player to beat! Ranked 116 in the World rankings, Sergiy was at odds of 80/1 to beat Federer before the start of play!

Along with Rafael Nadal's first round loss to Belgian Steve Darcis on the first day of the Championship, it was one of the greatest shocks in Wimbledon history. It brings the curtain down on a remarkable run that Roger was on in the sport's four majors. The Swiss had previously made it to an impressive 36 consecutive Grand Slam quarter-finals, a record dating back to the French Open in 2004, which he lost in the third round to Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten. It was his earliest exit at the All England Club since 2002, when he lost in the first round to Mario Ancic. It's a sad time for all the RF fans out there.

It was Roger's first defeat by a player ranked outside the top 100 since losing to Richard Gasquet at Monte Carlo in 2005 (Back then, Gasquet was ranked 101st in the world!) It was also the earliest defeat for a defending Wimbledon men's singles champion since 2003 when Lleyton Hewitt lost to Ivo Karlovic in the first round.

Federer picks up another Wimbledon crown...

With only two Grand Slam titles to his name since the beginning of 2010, the end of his remarkable run and the fact that he does not really have time on his side as he has a wife and 2 young children to support, people in the World of Tennis are beginning to wonder whether this is the end. Will he win an eighth Wimbledon crown? Will he even win another Grand Slam? Only time will tell.

Boris Becker and Tim Henman both believe it could be 'the end of an era'. The problem with making bold predictions like that is that we all know Roger can turn on the style in an instant. For whatever reason, and only he knows, he wasn't able to do that against Sergiy. The quality of Sergiy's first serve was a major advantage in his success. He was only broken once in the entire match! The Ukrainian played the game of his life, nothing troubled him after he lost the first set. He continued playing in the same fashion and it reaped rewards. Roger didn't play too badly, he was just beaten by the better player on the day and he can't have any complaints.

Federer in action.

On his day, Roger can still compete with, and beat the best; Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal to name a few. A short blip in form has seen everybody question his abilities and whether he is good enough any more. It's like questioning whether Phil Taylor can still play Darts! It's something you think about for a split second and then think "No... This man has class." Roger's record at Grand Slam level speaks for itself. It's incredible. He has played in 295 Grand Slam matches, winning 256 of them - a win percentage of 86.78%.

I feel it would be incredibly ridiculous to write the bloke off. His run was always going to come to an end and shocks do occasionally happen in Grand Slam Tennis! It will take time to settle in but let's see how he bounces back from this at Flushing Meadows in August. At 31 years of age, I believe Roger has a few years left in the tank and he can certainly win another Slam. He needs to put a lot of time and effort into it, to achieve what he wants to achieve.

No matter what happens, he will always be classed as a legend to the sport.

Written by Joe Glidewell and Liam Kelly. 

@JoeGlidewell & @Liamswfc92