Roger Federer 2004: The Tribute Tour

Posted on November 23, 2004

Sunday at the Masters Cup, Roger Federer defeated Lleyton Hewitt to end the 2004 season, successfully defending the year-end championships on top of Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.

The Swiss also won Masters Series titles at Indian Wells, Canada and Hamburg among his 11 titles.

"What can I say, this is an unbelievable end to a fantastic season," Federer said. "It started off at the Australian Open and just kept on coming. This is way too much to ask for, it's been fantastic."

Federer sustained only six losses during the year: to Tim Henman on indoor hardcourts at Rotterdam, to Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal on outdoor hard at the Masters Series-Miami, to former French Open champion Al Costa on clay at the MS-Rome, to former champ Gustavo Kuerten on the dirt at Roland Garros, to Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty in the opening round at the MS-Cincinnati (generally considered a tank, with the Swiss needing a rest after four consecutive tournament titles), and his final loss at the Athens Olympics to Tomas Berdych on a particularly windy day, with wind playing Kryptonite to Federer's usual Superman performances.

The French was the only slam to elude Federer, but there were other claycourt heroics during the year.

At the MS-Hamburg on the red dirt the Swiss out-finessed future Roland Garros champ Gaston Gaudio, Nicolas Lapentti, Top 20 claycourter Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez, former No. 1 Roland Garros champ Carlos Moya, the former No. 1 Hewitt (bagel in the first), and in the final, future Roland Garros runner-up Guillermo "El Fragile" Coria in four sets.

After the grasscourt season, with consecutive titles at Halle (fed Mardy Fish a bagel in the final) and Wimbledon (baked bagels for three opponents, including former winner Hewitt), the Swiss astounded the masses by honoring his commitment to his homecountry Gstaad event and, with hardly a warm-up coming from the lawns to the red dirt, won again. Federer would complete the three-surface triumvirate by winning his next event on hardcourt at the MS-Canada.

Among the other records are an Open Era record 23 consecutive wins over Top 10 players stretching back to last year, becoming the first year-end No. 1 to register 11 titles since Ivan Lendl in 1985, the only player ever to win at least 10 titles in a season without losing in a final, the first player since Ivan Lendl in 1986-87 to win back-to-back Masters Cup titles without losing a match, remaining unbeaten in his last 13 finals (an Open Era record) going back to Vienna last October, and finishing 76-6 on the year with 11 titles, ahead of 76-16 Andy Roddick who had four.

Whew.

"It's nice to be on the board, you know, with many other great players. All the records, you know, I broke or equaled or whatever I did, you know, this year, has just been fantastic," said Federer, trying his best to remain humble in the face of such adulation. "Like Lleyton said, the last one and a half years for me I have really started to go like a rocket. This is a great end. You know, only a few guys have won two Masters Cups in a row Lleyton and Lendl and you name it, I don't know. So it's just a few of them, it's nice."

Hewitt concurred on the rocket rise of Roger.

"I think there's been (Andre) Agassi on his day and (Pete) Sampras on their day are pretty awesome players. I think Roger is definitely up there," said Hewitt, who lost to the eventual winner at all four slams and the Masters Cup in 2004. "He just doesn't give you that many cheap points."

Federer is the first player to finish with single-digit losses in 15 years since Ivan Lendl in 1989. What remains to be seen is if Club Fed can put up Lendl-like numbers over the next couple years. Lendl also had single-digit-loss years in 1985 (84-7), 1986 (74-6), and 1987 (74-7).

In 1984 John McEnroe compiled an 82-3 record with 13 titles. That year McEnroe won his first seven tournament before losing in the French Open final to Lendl.

Federer has already announced that he will attempt to lighten his load by skipping the first round of Davis Cup play in 2005, which will likely drop Switzerland out of the World Group competition for the year.

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
The Roger Federer-Marat Safin record tiebreak made ESPN's Plays of the Week at No. 2 -- how did that beat out the Detroit Pistons-Indiana Pacers free-for-all? At least it beat out the dominoes world record highlight...Australian tennis legends John Newcombe and John Fitzgerald have strengthened the push for an overhaul of player development in Australia, saying the Australian junior development situation needs urgent attention: "It's not like the sixties or seventies -- there's probably four times more countries playing now," Fitzgerald told The Daily Telegraph. "It's a tough school out there to be a world-class tennis player. There's no question it [junior development] needs addressing immediately, but I think everyone realizes that."...Strasbourg will host the France vs. Sweden Davis Cup tie in February 2005...Soup for you! The International Tennis Hall of Fame announced that the Campbell Soup Company has extended their agreement as the title sponsor of the Newport Hall of Fame Tennis Championships through 2006...The WTA Championships lost more than $1 million this year in L.A...Peter Lundgren talking to the Houston Chronicle on watching former pupil Roger Federer play current pupil Marat Safin in the Masters Cup semifinals: "Lots of thoughts, lots of things going through my head, but nothing bad, just lots of positives. It's very nice to have your -- my players on the court at the same time."...Here's Bud Collins' wrap-up from the Masters Cup: "(Lleyton) Hewitt, ejected from No. 1 by Andy Roddick last year, came in as No. 3. He had a splendid season (three titles on a 68-18 match record) -- "except when I bumped into Roger," he said with a smile, pleased to have thumped No. 2 Roddick, 6-3, 6-2, in the semifinals. "Roger hits lines, doesn't give you any cheap points, and is so aggressive when you're serving."" Except that Hewitt won four titles this year Bud -- stone...Jim "Mattress Mac" McIngvale has bought a World Team Tennis franchise, signing Steffi Graf for 2005, and is reportedly trying to finagle a Masters Series event for Argentina?...Mark Philippoussis will reportedly return to New York and seek some more help from John McEnroe before beginning his 2005 campaign.