I mean, he didn't start beating them until they were getting on in age/injuries. 25-30 year old Federer was the best player I've seen since I started watching tennis in the early 90s, imo. Although obviously Nadal rules clay.
Weird, because his absolute peak started and ended way before that.
He was a force of nature from 2004 to 2006, i. e. at 23-25.
In 2007 already, while still immensely successful, Fed started showing signs of stagnation/the rest of the pack began catching up. A 21 year old Nadal almost beat him in Wimbledon. A twenty year old Novak gave him a hard time at US Open (the result appears one-sided mainly due to Novak's inexperience).
In 2008, Federer was totally beatable, and his game would never again be as impeccable as it was at his absolute best. His shot arsenal reduced and so did his confidence. 2009 looked good on paper, but his level of play was never the same. Shaky serve, vulnerable slice BH. Between 28 and 30, he won one major.
So 25-30 year old Federer was not even the best Federer I have seen.
As for yesterday, I couldn't watch the first two sets, so I don't know what happened there. I managed to make it just as Nadal had a set point in the third. We could nitpick a couple of details here and there, but overall, Novak was just too good for him yesterday. Rafa's movement deteriorated to a crazy extent. When Novak hit that stop ball Rafa clearly saw, I thought, "surely Nadal is gonna get to that". But he was too hopeful it wouldn't end on his side of the net, and when he realized it would, he turned on the wheels so rusty and clunky it hit me: age did its work. Rafa is old.
This, to me, marks the end of an era. I'm not gonna just write him off, period. But his French Open aura got bitten away by a huge chunk yesterday. His weaker, BH side is gonna get exploited more and more, and more players will model their strategy on what Novak (and Diego in a way) attempted this year.
If Rafa ever gets to the final again, it will be a tough effort.
