Roger Federer: No longer the king

Roger Federer: No longer the king

The scuffling Swiss hopes a gold medal in Beijing can turn around his frustrating season

Swiss star Roger Federer will relinquish his long-standing No. 1 ranking to the Spaniard Rafael Nadal during the second week of the Olympic Games. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Roger Federer walked into a small interview room at the tennis centre in Toronto last month sporting a black t-shirt with the inscription 080808.

The numbers refer to the date of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing. Federer pointed to the six digits and proudly informed CBC Sports: "It's also my birthday."

Indeed, Federer will turn 27 when the Olympics commence. In China, eight is regarded as a lucky number. Considering the type of season Federer has gone through thus far, he hopes his luck will change in Beijing.

A series of stunning losses to rival Rafael Nadal and two early exits in tournaments leading up to the Olympics mean Federer will relinquish his long-standing No. 1 ranking to the Spaniard on Aug. 18 — ending one of the most dominating streaks in tennis history.

The 12-time Grand Slam winner — two behind career leader and Hall of Famer Pete Sampras — has held the top spot since Feb. 2, 2004.

"I had a rough start to the season, which wasn't easy," admitted Federer. "I didn't play very much, and then I struggled a little bit."

The early difficulties began with Federer suffering from a bout of mononucleosis, a health problem that partly explains the frequency of his defeats, which have continued into the summer. After dropping a semifinal match to Serbian Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open in January, Federer prolonged his slide by losing to Nadal in both the French Open and the Wimbledon finals.

Crushing loss at Wimbledon

The loss at the all-England club was especially crushing to the Swiss native. The five-set epic halted Federer's string of five straight Wimbledon titles — a feat matched only by tennis legend Björn Borg.Federer's crushing loss to Rafael Nadal, right, at Wimbledon let him demoralized. (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Many now regard the match as the greatest of all time, but Federer said he felt demoralized following his battle with Nadal and later conceded that "defeat cannot get much worse than this."

"It's probably one of those matches I will never watch [again]," he said. "I just felt really exhausted, tired, disappointed and sad - you name it. It wasn't a lot of fun going through press conferences [when] all you wanted to do is leave the site. It gives me more motivation to do well again and prove to the world that I am the No. 1 player."

Unfortunatly, his positive approach has not translated into victories and won't keep him atop the ATP Tour standings for much longer. As the hardcourt portion of the season moved to Toronto in July, Federer spoiled another highly anticipated confrontation with Nadal by falling to unheralded Frenchman Gilles Simon in his opening match. A week later, he endured another early exit in Cincinnati, this time to Croatian Ivo Karlovic.

Federer judged at higher standard

Yet Federer, loser of three of his last four matches, refuses to admit he's in a slump. He argues that his previous dominance simply means critics judge him by a higher standard than any other player on tour.Federer argues that his previous dominance simply means critics judge him by a higher standard than any other player on tour. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

"Everybody would dream about the season I've had so far: two Grand Slam finals, one semifinal, two [other tour] titles," said Federer. "It's just that Rafael has been reigning supreme on clay and on grass, and he's had a great season. So that made it sort of hard.

"I am not affected by it too much. It's just unfortunate that in tennis, people start to question you even if you do something for five, 10 years. I don't think it's fair, but it will be so much sweeter once you win again."

Federer hopes to finally end his 2008 misery with an Olympic gold medal.

On Aug. 1, Federer was given the privilege of carrying his nation's flag into Beijing's National Stadium (known as the "bird's nest") for the second time in his career. He was also Switzerland's flag bearer at the Athens Summer Games four years ago.

"It is a true honour for me to lead the Swiss athletes into the stadium, carrying the Swiss flag," He said on his website. "It's well known that I still have a score to settle with the Olympics, and being handed this honour for a second time will give me extra motivation."

Draws incentive from past Olympic failures

Federer's incentive stems from past Olympic failures. Entering the 2000 Sydney Games as a green 18-year-old, Federer advanced to the semifinals before falling to Frenchman Arnaud di Pasquale in the bronze-medal match.An Olympic gold medal, combined with a fifth U.S. Open title, could turn Federer's fortunes around. (Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images)

Once the Athens Games arrived, a more seasoned Federer was already established as the No. 1 player in the world by winning the Australian Open and a second Wimbledon title. The Swiss sensation was the overwhelming favourite to capture gold, an accomplishment he values as much as his Grand Slam titles.

But Federer's tournament ended quickly and quietly, with a loss to Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in three sets. Still, the setbacks have not quelled Federer's desire to compete in the Olympics.

"I was very proud to represent Switzerland in 2000 where I really just missed on winning a medal," he said. "[Athens] was quite disappointing after losing in the second round, but nevertheless, going there was one of the biggest experiences in life I've ever had. As long as I can walk and play, I'll always want to go and play at the Olympics."

For now, one of tennis's most impressive streaks will come to an end by the second week of the Summer Olympics. On the other hand, a gold-medal performance in Beijing, combined with a fifth U.S. Open title during the Aug. 25-Sept. 7 event, could turn Federer's fortunes around.

"I'm looking forward for the next two tournaments," he said. "Those are really the ones that can make this season from a good one to a great one."

It will also be the most satisfying way to celebrate his 27th birthday.