2015 Season Review: Roger Federer

Roger Federer of Switzerland holds up the trophy after defeating Novak Djokovic of Serbia to win the mens singles final at the Western & Southern Open. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

In his second season with Stefan Edberg at the helm, Roger Federer was looking to do one better than most of 2014 by attempting to win an 18th career Grand Slam title. The Swiss maestro fell a bit short this year in those efforts, but you can’t take away his number of fantastic results thanks to deep runs in most tournaments this year.

Win/Loss

The world number three went a cool 63-11 this year. Federer was dominant against the top ten going 15-6. Despite that, his record in finals was a mere 6-5. The Swiss number one delivered during tennis’ biggest events. In Masters 1000s and Grand Slams, he went 34-10, meaning he picked up more than half of his wins against some of tennis’ best competition.

High Points

The summer has always been kind to Federer throughout his career. 12 of his 17 Grand Slam titles have come in the summer season, seven at The Championships and five at the US Open. It all began at Halle winning an eighth title on the grass courts in Germany. He would then take on London once again in hopes of equaling his Halle and Wimbledon marks at eight.

Many thought his semifinal match against Andy Murray would be the beginning of his potential slide, but the Swiss provided a vintage serving display winning nearly 90 percent of his first serve points. Federer picked up his play at the right moments towards the latter end of the set as he broke the Brit during the ends of the set en route to his straight sets win. After that fine serving display, many believed he was ready to capture number 18 and number 8 at Wimbledon. However, Novak Djokovic had other ideas as the two provided an epic four-setter in which the Serb won, marking his second Grand Slam title of the year.

Federer took that loss pretty hard knowing he blew many chances, especially since he had set points in the opening set. He skipped the Rogers Cup in Canada to focus on Cincinnati. Djokovic had his eyes targeted on Cincinnati knowing that a title there would give him a career Golden Masters. Federer had some other ideas though with a straight sets win, even whipping out the SABR (Sneak Attack By Roger) a few times in the process.

Djokovic and Federer would once again meet in a major final, this time the US Open. Once again, Federer would capture the second set but faltered on the important points as he witnessed the world number one kiss the winner’s trophy once again.

Low Points

There aren’t too many times in 2015 where Federer experienced low points. His one likely low points of the year were likely his Australian Open loss to Andreas Seppi in the third round. Plain and simple, Federer was outplayed throughout most of the match and some un-Federer like decisions cost him in the end. His other low point would have to be a loss in his first match at the Shanghai Rolex Masters to Albert Ramos-Viñolas. For some mysterious reason, Federer has had difficulties in his opening match in Shanghai. Last year, Leonardo Mayer had match points but was unable to shut the door, but this time around, the underdog delivered.

Best Results

Roger Federer of Switzerland holds the Roy Emerson trophy after winning his 1000 singles title after the Mens final match against Milos Raonic of Canada. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

2015 saw Federer win six titles. Two have been mentioned at Halle and Cincy, but his title in Brisbane witnessed him win his 1000th career match over Milos Raonic. In Dubai, he picked up his first win over the world number one, defeating him in the final. The Swiss number one won his first clay title in three years after picking up the title in the new event in Istanbul. His final title of the year came in his hometown of Basel where he defeated Big Four rival Rafael Nadal in the final.

Worst Results

Roger Federer of Switzerland reacts in his third round match against Andreas Seppi of Italy during day five of the 2015 Australian Open. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

In addition to his second round loss in Shanghai, Federer crashed out in the second round in Madrid. He faced Nick Kyrgios in an enthralling matchup of old school vs new school. The Aussie prevailed in three tiebreak sets, winning the final tiebreak 12-10.

Grade: B+

Six titles and eleven finals  on the year speaks volumes that Federer isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. However, with age, his mental edge has seriously dwindled. His ability to just hone in on the big points has cost him dearly, especially in his finals losses to Djokovic. Nonetheless, Federer should be in the hunt for every major title next year, especially Wimbledon after taking the clay season off and adding another grass tournament to his schedule.