Imagine dedicating your life to the pursuit of a single goal, and after many years of hard work, having your success slip away as a result of your health. How would that make you feel?

In 2005, Rafael Nadal became the world’s second highest ranked tennis player, but was a far way behind the number one player, Roger Federer. Despite Nadal’s incredible dedication and work ethic, few people believed that he’d ever catch Federer who many consider to be the greatest player of all time and was completely dominating tennis at the time. However, with a lot of grit, determination, and hard work, Nadal consistently continued to improve his game, and in August of 2008, gained the number one ranking. It was a dream come true and was an amazing accomplishment considering the odds that were stacked against him.

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Roger Federer is arguably the greatest tennis player to ever live. His career is far from over and some people are already convinced that he’s the greatest of all time. He’s won 13 grand slam titles which is only one short of Pete Sampras’ record of 14. He also spent 237 consecutive weeks as the world’s top ranked player which literally crushed Jimmy Connors previous record by 77 weeks.

2008: The Season of Questions

In 2008, Roger was a semifinalist at the Australian Open, the runner up at the French Open, the runner up at Wimbledon, and the winner of the U.S. Open. For any other player, this would’ve been a dream season, but for Roger, it was substandard.

This time last year, Roger had just been upset in the semifinals of the Australian Open by Novak Djokovich. This was the first time in 11 grand slams, or nearly 3 years, that Roger Federer wouldn’t be playing in the finals. Talk immediately began to circulate through the tennis world suggesting that Roger was officially past his prime.

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