Tennis: Roger Federer Unfazed by Martina Navratilova's Comments

Yesterday, tennis legend Roger Federer seemed unfazed by Martina Navratilova's suggestion that he may not ever be able to regain his number one ranking.

During an interview (published by Tennis-X), the moderator brought up Navratilova's comment and asked Federer if it registered with him, given that it was coming from someone of her stature. Federer suggested that the press often causes people to make negative comments:,

"She's in front of the microphone a lot of times, you know, like other experts, as well, and eventually you can't just say only good things. You have to also say more negative things. Then you pick up on these, and next thing you know it's like I'm being asked and then I have to answer it, which is unfortunate."

Regarding the question of whether or not he was past his prime, Federer pointed to the World Tour Finals (Year-End Championships) where he won the event for the fifth time, taking out Rafael Nadal in the finals.

Despite being in fine form after working with his new coach, Paul Annacone, tennis pundits have speculated whether or not Federer was in decline. At last year's US Open, he fell to Novak Djokovic in the semis after holding match point.

At the Australian Open this year, Djokovic consolidated his victory by taking Federer out in straight sets. Djkovic later defeated Federer at the final in Dubai. Most recently, Djokovic defeated Federer at Indian Wells before taking out Nadal to win the title. With that win, Djokovic took over the number two ranking.

Given that Federer hasn't won a major since 2010's Australian Open, it may be tempting to write him off as past his prime. While Navratilova didn't rule out the possibility of Federer winning another slam, she pointed to Nadal's dominance and Djokovic's improved confidence as potential hurdles for Federer.

As she pointed out, "Roger has lost three matches (this season) to Djokovic and lost to him at U.S. Open last year as well, it will get under his skin " (as reported by Tennis Magazine).

Yet I wouldn't be so quick to write Federer off. Nadal was virtually invincible when he won last year's French, Wimbledon, and US Open titles.

And Federer didn't choke in those matches against Djokovic. Djokovic had to earn them. Those matches were more a testament of Djokovic's improved game and confidence than Federer's decline. The fact that Djokovic was able to take out Federer and Nadal back-to-back only shows that he's no longer having to play second fiddle to "Fedal."

While Nadal and Djokovic seem to be dominating right now, Federer may well make a comeback once grass court season rolls around.

As for Navratilova, Federer has no hard feelings. He and his wife, Mirka, both love her, and he respects her right to say what she wants.