Roger Federer’s Advantage: Being a Good Loser

Wimbledon begins on Monday and Roger Federer is in a familiar place. The grass courts at the All England Club, where he’s won seven times, still offer the 33-year-old the best chance to win an 18th Grand Slam singles title. Last year, Federer lost in the final to Novak Djokovic in five sets. Federer also still looks and plays a lot younger than his age.

Here’s a big reason why: Federer is an exceptionally talented loser.

For all that he has won in 17 years on tour, Federer has suffered many potentially crushing defeats. Against Rafael Nadal, there was the 2008 Wimbledon final, along with four French Open finals and an Australian Open final, in 2009, that caused Federer to say, “God, it’s killing me,” while sobbing during the trophy presentation. Federer once squandered a two-set lead in a Wimbledon quarterfinal. He has lost twice in the U.S. Open semifinals to Djokovic, the world’s top-ranked player, after being one point from victory (after the second of those defeats, Federer sounded more frustrated than he did after any other loss in his career). In 2009, Federer lost the U.S. Open final to Juan Martin del Potro—who was playing his first major final—after leading two sets to one.

Paul Annacone, Federer’s former coach and now a commentator with Tennis Channel, watched Federer lose up close—and then had to help him get over defeat. Federer usually didn’t need much consoling, Annacone said.

“It was a five-minute conversation afterward and maybe a five-minute conversation the next day,” Annacone said. “You have a meal and you move on. I don’t know how he does it. I’m a sore sport. It would really piss me off to lose.”

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When Federer lost to Djokovic in last year’s Wimbledon final, reasonable minds wondered if he had missed his last opportunity to win an 18th major title. Fast forward 12 months and Federer’s chances seem even better than last year. He has beaten Djokovic this year and he played better at the French Open, where he lost to Stan Wawrinka, the eventual champion. He immediately began plotting his Wimbledon attack.

“I’m already thinking what I’m going to do the next few days, because Wimbledon is going to be a big goal,” Federer said shortly after his defeat in Paris. “I want to win it, and I feel like my game is good.”

Federer was then asked more about his defeat by French reporters. He responded in French: “It’s a pity I couldn’t do better than that. That’s what I thought immediately. Then it goes away.”

It isn’t uncommon for a tennis champion to master the art of losing. A player who dwells on defeats puts both confidence and ambition at risk. Annacone, who also coached Pete Sampras, said Sampras excelled at recovering from losses. But Annacone called Federer an elite among the elites, because he also has remained positive about the yearly grind of the tour.

“Roger enjoys competing and more of the miscellaneous things that make a professional tennis player than Pete did,” Annacone said. “At the end of his career Pete was a little burned out.”

Federer still enjoys the tour’s smaller tournaments like a young pro on a winning streak. At a grass-court warm-up event in Halle, Germany, earlier this week, Federer won his eighth title, the most titles he has won at a single tournament in his career. He held the trophy like a kid who had won a 4-foot stuffed bear at a state fair. Earlier this year, Federer arranged his schedule to play a small event in Turkey, where he had never played before. He won the title.

Federer has won at least one title every season since 2001, two years before he won his first major, at Wimbledon in 2003. He also has suffered few injuries in his career. Victories and health are superb confidence boosters—just ask Nadal. After missing most of the summer and the U.S. Open last year, Nadal has yet to recover his form and has spoken openly about nerves and a lack of confidence. He lost for just the second time in 11 years at the French Open earlier this month.

Federer hasn’t won a major title since he last won Wimbledon, in 2012. He’ll be the second seed this year, behind Djokovic. Andy Murray is seeded third, and he might be playing the best grass-court tennis in the world. Murray won a warm-up event at Queen’s Club and he seems to be playing as well, if not better, than he was when he won Wimbledon in 2013.

Federer might also have to contend with Nadal, who isn’t a favorite to win the title but could meet one of the higher seeds earlier than usual (Nadal is seeded No. 10.) Nadal leads Federer 23-10 in their head-to-head meetings. They haven’t played since last year’s Australian Open.

If Federer wins Wimbledon, he’ll be the tournament’s oldest champion, man or woman, in the Open era, which began in 1968. (Martina Navratilova won Wimbledon at age 33 in 1990, but was a few months younger.) If Federer loses again, Annacone thinks there will be more chances to win major titles.



“As you get older, it’s much more difficult to win the Slams because you see that the clock is ticking—you see your mortality,” Annacone said. “Because Roger has such good perspective, he plays with less nerves than someone his age would normally play with.”