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| Federer and Wawrinka. Olympic Gold medalists in 2008 |
Earlier this week, Roger Federer lost to Gael Monfils in the third round of the Shanghai Open, setting off a flurry of twittering among the Roger-ists. Many think their hero is better off retiring now, still close to the top, rather than fading
away slowly and inelegantly.
On the flip side of the argument, Roger clearly still wants
to show up and play, despite the indignities of his declining win:loss ratio. As
a fan, surely this is something to be happy about. Surely Roger gives more to the
world with a racquet in his hand than as another talking head on TV (like
Boris Becker), or as an underwear manufacturing entrepreneur (like Bjorn Borg).
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| Leander Paes, Grand Slam champion at 40 |
In that context, Moonballs from Planet Earth would like to
propose a path that allows Roger, and fans like us, have it both
ways: quit singles, focus on doubles.
Roger, 32, can realistically expect to play another decade of
top flight doubles. Roger's classical style lends itself well to doubles.
