Game Point: Five facts about Roger Federer's slump
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With his loss to Ernests Gulbis on Tuesday in Rome, Roger Federer continues one of his most prolonged slumps since ascending to the top of the tennis world. He's 3-3 since winning the Australian Open and has failed to make the quarterfinals in any of the three events (Indian Wells, Key Biscayne and Rome) in which he's played since then. There's no need to overreact or make sweeping generalizations about what this means for Federer's future. More than likely it's just a bit of disinterest mixing with a routine bad patch between Grand Slams. Still, that doesn't mean we can't analyze it:
Love -- Federer has failed to make the quarterfinals in his last three events. Prior to that, he had missed just three quarterfinals since July, 2008.
15 -- Those three losses have come to players ranked No. 20 or below. Federer had only done that three times since March 2008.
30 -- The last comparable stretch for Federer was in 2007 when he failed to make the quarterfinals at the same three events (Indian Wells, Key Biscayne and Rome). But, Federer sandwiched in a tournament victory in Monte Carlo that same year.
40 -- In 2005, Federer lost four matches during the entire season. He has already lost four matches so far this year.
Game -- On the bright side, Federer won his first doubles match of the season in Rome. He had been just 6-12 in ATP doubles matches since 2005.
