Although Federer is the owner of a record 16 grand slam titles, the last of them came almost a year and a half ago, when he beat Andy Murray in the final of the Australian Open. Six tournaments have gone by without a success for the player who won 12 of 18 between 2003 and 2007. A year ago this month, after 285 weeks at No1, he dropped a place in the world rankings, shortly before going out in the Wimbledon quarter-finals to Tomas Berdych. Now he stands at No3 in the world, and the decline may not be reversible. However, he was disinclined to entertain the notion that we may be witnessing the end of an era.

"I don't think so," he said. "It wasn't a shocker, a second-round loss in straight sets, some stupid match I played. It was a great match, I think, from both sides. I really did play well and I also thought Jo played an amazing match, as good as I have seen him play for such a long time. You can only respect that. That is why there is no reason to look too far ahead.

Read more at The Guardian...