Roger Federer Is Joining the Aching Aging Club and We Feel His Pain

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: July 29, 2013

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Roger Federer is joining the over-the-hill club and for those of us who are long-time members, it's no fun to watch.

At 31, Federer is a young man by any other standard. But in professional sports, especially the grinding game of tennis, Federer is approaching retirement. Worse, he's coming up against that wall we all hit when the body starts to rebel against the mind.

After a shocking loss to No. 55 Daniel Brands in front of a Swiss crowd, Federer spoke about a nagging back injury. He told the Hindu Business Line, “In the last 7-10 days I could hardly practice.  This made it difficult to prepare properly. I decided to play so it’s no excuse." 

Ah, the bad back. It's the quintessential old man's injury. Almost any weekend warrior recognizes the "Ow, my back!" pose. It's so synonymous with "old guyism" that a silhouette of the pose should be placed on court-side benches.

Federer even spoke of taking anti-inflammatories just so that he's able to practice. Nothing says, "damn I'm old" like an ongoing relationship with anti-inflammatories. 



Unfortunately for Fed, it's the beginning of what will become a growing list of aches and pains. The older you get, the more stuff aches. Walking aches, stretching aches, bending over aches, standing up aches. Playing tennis against guys 10 years younger and five steps faster hurts like hell. 

Mentally, Federer is probably as sharp or sharper than he's ever been. But even in this age of hyper nutrition and new-fangled fitness routines, eventually we reach that point of diminishing returns.

It's natural—expected. However, with someone as iconic and accomplished as Federer, the aging process seems surreal.

Watching Federer at this stage in his career conjures up images of Christopher Reeves in Superman II, the one where Superman decided to go human. It was sad t...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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