Unperturbed by Rafael Nadal’s apparent mental hold over him, a defiant Roger Federer has vowed to return for many more cracks at the Australian Open.
Federer’s eighth loss from 10 grand slam meetings with his Spanish nemesis triggered the inevitable post-mortems and left critics wondering if the Swiss master would ever add to his record collection of 16 career majors.
But the 30-year-old harbours no such concerns himself and says life goes on, business as usual, in his ongoing pursuit of more grand slam glory.
“I haven’t lost in five months or something, you know. It’s not that bad. Don’t feel too sorry for me,” Federer said as he digested a 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 semi-final loss to his great rival at Melbourne Park.
“Obviously I would have loved to have come through and gotten a crack, a chance at winning the title here again.
“It’s been one of the most successful tournaments in my life here – it’s the ninth time straight I am in the semi-finals.
“Clearly I’m disappointed. But, then again, important is the reaction from now.
“Where do I go from here? Start planning other trips. Start planning the preparations and, again, have a good reaction like I showed after the US Open.”
Federer suffered one of the most shattering defeats of his career in New York, blowing a two-sets-to-love lead and two match points serving at 5-3 in the deciding set of his semi-final against Novak Djokovic.
He responded by winning the last 17 matches of 2011, picking up a record sixth season-ending championship in the process, before winning his first five matches of 2012.
Alas, he came unstuck for the 18th time in 27 career showdowns with Nadal.
Federer, though, maintains his lopsided losing record against Nadal isn’t weighing him down psychologically.
“It is what it is. At the end, I care about my titles, if I’m happy or not as a person,” Federer said.
“Head-to-heads for me are not the most important – if I beat Andre (Agassi) 10 times in a row or Lleyton (Hewitt) many times in a row.
“At the end of the day, I don’t care … all I know is that we’ve played many times and it either comes my way or his way.
“Rallies have gone a little bit more his way obviously.
“I always think he plays a bit better against me than against other players, but that’s good for him.
“I don’t know if it’s true. It’s my assumption. I feel he plays really good against me.
“Obviously I play a different game, too. I have a one-handed backhand.
“He’s played me that many times on clay, so maybe he always draws something out of those matches.
“He’s also got a winning record against me which maybe gives him extra confidence, I don’t know.
“Yeah, I think he has a clear plan and he follows that one very well.”
