Roger Federer arrived at last year’s U.S. Open with his confidence — and his seeding — sagging.
The five-time U.S. Open champion was bothered by a back injury that prevented him from training as much as he would have liked, and he ended up playing in Queens with his older, 90-square-inch racket frame instead of the 98-inch frame he had tested earlier in the summer.
He entered the Open as the No. 7 seed — his lowest position since 2002 — and was bounced in the fourth round by journeyman Tommy Robredo, a man he had beaten in their 10 previous matches.
“I felt like I had little margin against guys ranked just outside of the top 10 to No. 30 in the world,” Federer said of his feelings a year ago. “And then the rest of the field, I felt like I could manage it somehow, but the confidence was going away quickly, too, just because I was just not moving so well. I was scared to have another setback, and so it was just not as clear-cut and simple as it is this year.”
What a difference a year makes.
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