Thirty and still amongst the top three, Federer is truly what people call a seasoned veteran.  “A tennis player and a gentleman”, Federer has ruled the game of tennis for almost half a decade now. Current world number three, Federer was is currently the only active player to have held the top position for the most number of weeks.

Starting the year ranked 2nd in the world, the Swiss maestro lost his chance to hold his ranking as he failed to defend his only Grand Slam win of 2010, the season opening Grand Slam, the Australian Open. Although Australian Open was the Swiss’ downfall for the season, Federer did start the year on a high note winning the event at Doha. However, as the Fates spun it, this was to be the Swiss’ only title for the most part of the year. With semi-final showings in almost all of the events for the season, the Swiss was stopped short of adding to his already vast title count by either former world number one Rafael Nadal or reigning world number one Novak Djokovic.

His semi-final loss at the Grand Slam against the Djoker was followed by a final showing at Doha (again lost to Djokovic) and then back to back semi-final losses at Indian Wells and Miami. Though he did not win any title, for hard courts the maestro continues to stand a class apart sporting a resounding 24-5 for the season. With a final showing at Roland Garros and a quarterfinal at Wimbledon, Federer returned to the hard circuit in August when he played at the Montreal Masters. In the exodus of the seeds that followed at the event, the Swiss was ousted in only his second match there by Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Coming into Cincinnati Masters, Federer failed to defend his title meeting similar fate as Montreal.

However, after all is said and done, one cannot argue the brilliance that is Roger Federer. An unstoppable force at Grand Slams, he is the only male professional ever to hold sixteen Grand Slams wins. Starting at Wimbledon 2004, Federer has made it to twenty nine straight Grand Slam quarterfinals or more in seven years. A destructive force on grass, the Swiss was equally devastating on hard courts as well.  His four wins in Melbourne are only outmatched by his five straight wins at New York from 2004 to 2008. He finally lost his title in 2009 when he played then top ranked Argentine, Juan Martin Del Potro.

Debuting at the turn of the century, the Swiss is appearing in his twelfth year here amassing an impressive 56-6 career win loss mark. However, though the records may speak volumes about the Swiss’s capabilities, the one undeniable fact that remains is that the Swiss is now thirty years old and has failed to win a Grand Slam since Jan 2010. Not only that, he also put in only one final appearance making it that far at the Roland Garros this year. What was once sure shot at Grand Slams is now much in doubt. A lot many critics and experts are debating whether it is time that Federer should hang up his racquet.

The Swiss’ major threat in a title win at Flushing Meadows this year, are the top two, Nadal and Djokovic. Although Federer holds a tremendous lead in his head-to-head against the Serb, the fact remains that he has been unable to stop the 2011 juggernaut especially on hard courts. Similarly the Swiss has failed to defeat Nadal this year be it on any surface.

As a famous British author once wrote in her book, “the fire is lit but the cauldron is empty.” What he once was aside, Federer has now crossed his prime and though he might make it to perhaps his thirtieth straight quarterfinal, he will have to up his game several notches if he wishes to grab the title away from Rafa or the Djoker with the hopes of becoming the first ever male to clinch six US Open titles.