Roger Federer's 2013 tennis season officially began on 14 January at the start of the 2013 Australian Open. This season saw Federer suffer a considerable decline in form, dropping five places to number 7 in the world, his lowest ranking in 11 years, and seeing his run of 36 consecutive grand slam quarterfinals ended by a second round defeat at Wimbledon. This year also marked the first time since 2002 where Federer did not reach a major final. His only title win of the season was a victory at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, an ATP 250 event.
The decline in form can be largely attributed to the severe back injuries Federer suffered for much of the season, hampering his play from March through October. He first injured his back in the early rounds of Indian Wells and then re-injured it in the quarterfinals of Hamburg.
Year summary
Australian Open and early hard court season
Australian Open Federer kicked off his 2013 season with an appearance at the Australian Open, where he finished in the semifinals last year. Federer began his campaign against Frenchman Benoît Paire in the first round, and swept him in straight sets. He defeated long-time rival Nikolay Davydenko in the second round in straight sets, and faced Australian Bernard Tomic in the third round. After Federer converted on a break point in the first game and held to win the set, Tomic attempted to level the game, saving six break points and bringing the second set to a tiebreak, in which he had an early lead, but Federer overcame the deficit and won the tiebreak. Federer then broke Tomic twice and gave up only one game in the third set, winning the match in under two hours. Federer defeated big serving Canadian Milos Raonic in the fourth round in straight sets, having not dropped neither a set nor a service game through the fourth round. With the win, he also extended his record of consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances to 35, a run which extends back to the 2004 Wimbledon Championships. Federer faced Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals, where he and Tsonga traded breaks in the first set and brought the set to a tiebreak, which he won. Tsonga took advantage of Federer's unforced errors in the second set, breaking his serve and holding to level out the match at one set all. The third set saw Federer and Tsonga again trading breaks and playing a tiebreak, which Federer won. Tsonga recovered from a triple break point in the fourth set, and broke Federer's serve and held the lead to bring the match to a fifth set, where Federer broke Tsonga and won the match after four match points and three and a half hours. With his win, Federer advanced to his tenth straight semifinal at the Australian Open. Federer played Andy Murray in the semifinals, and found himself down one set after Murray took advantage of Federer's poor first serves to break Federer's serve and hold for the lead. The second set went to a tiebreak, which Federer won after capitalizing on some mistakes from Murray. Murray then came back in the third set, and, with the help of two line calls that went in his favor, broke Federer and held to regain a one-set lead. Federer held an early lead in the fourth set after breaking Murray, but Murray broke back on an unforced error from Federer. Momentum then shifted in favor of Murray, who came close to winning the match, but Federer forced the set to go to a tiebreak, which he won. In the fifth set, Federer was unable to respond to aces and winners from Murray, giving up two break points and losing the match in four hours.
Rotterdam Open Federer next played at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, entering as defending champion. He played Grega Žemlja of Slovenia in the first round, and blew past him, winning in straight sets in less than an hour. He next played wildcard Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands, and defeated him in straight sets in just over an hour. He played Frenchman Julien Benneteau in the quarterfinals, and found himself down one set after unforced errors led to his serve being broken. Federer then fought to secure the second set, but ultimately failed after missing a break point opportunity.
Dubai Tennis Championships Following the loss of his Rotterdam title, Federer next attempted to defend his title at the Dubai Tennis Championships in Dubai. He faced Tunisian wildcard Malek Jaziri in the first round, and dropped the first set after Jaziri secured his first and only break point in the match. Federer then took charge of the match, winning twelve of the next fourteen games to secure a win. In the second round, Federer played Marcel Granollers of Spain, and broke Granollers' serve once in each set en route to a straight-sets victory. Federer then played perennial rival Nikolay Davydenko in the third round, and flew past him in less than an hour to a second straight-sets victory. He lost to Tomáš Berdych in the semifinals in a close match, while blowing three match points in the second set tiebreak.
Indian Wells Masters At the first Masters 1000 series event of the year, Federer once again entered as defending champion at Indian Wells. After receiving a bye in the first round, he faced Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in the second round and defeated him in straight sets, completing the match in just under an hour. He played Croatian Ivan Dodig in the third round and advanced again in straight sets, dropping only four games en route to a victory in just over an hour. Federer next faced Swiss compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka. He won the match in three tight sets, nearly losing the match after Wawrinka broke in the third set. However, Federer held on to win the last set, and found perennial foe Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. Federer, however, entered the match having suffered a back injury in the previous round and was defeated in straight sets. He then continued with his pre-planned decision to take a two-month break from the sport, skipping the mandatory Masters 1000 tournament in Miami under an exception from the ATP, which allows older players to relax their schedules, and the non-mandatory Masters 1000 tournament in Monte Carlo.
Spring clay court season and French Open
Madrid Open Federer next competed on clay at the Mutua Madrid Open, where he was the defending champion. Federer played Radek Štěpánek of the Czech Republic in the second round after a bye in the first round, and defeated him in straight sets. Federer then met Kei Nishikori of Japan in the third round. In the first set, Federer allowed Nishikori to convert on a break point opportunity, and Nishikori held the advantage to take the set. Federer came back in the second set, relying on strong shot-making to win five straight games and level the match at one set all. Federer's serve faltered in the third, and uncharacteristic errors from Federer, as well as strong play from Nishikori, meant that the Japanese number 1 defeated Federer for the first time in his career. This was Federer's earliest exit at the event since 2003, when the event was held as the Stuttgart Masters.
Italian Open Federer played at the Italian Open in Rome, where he finished in the semifinals the previous year. After a bye in the first round, Federer played Potito Starace in the second round, dropping only seven points on serve and breaking Starace four times en route to a victory in straight sets in 51 minutes. He faced Gilles Simon of France in the third round, and raced past Simon in similar style, winning in just over an hour after again dropping only three games. Federer played Jerzy Janowicz of Poland in the quarterfinals. In the first set, Federer and Janowicz traded games until Federer found a late break point, which he converted to take the set. Janowicz broke Federer in the first game of the second set and held to serve for the set, but Federer broke back and won the tiebreak to clinch the match. He played Benoît Paire of France in the semifinals. Paire held an early lead in the first before Federer broke back and won a tight tiebreak. Federer then broke early in the second set and held to win in straight sets. He played Rafael Nadal in his first final of the year, but fell short against a hot-handed Nadal, committing multiple unforced errors and having his serve broken five times en route to a loss in straight sets in just over an hour.
French Open Federer next competed at the French Open, where he finished in the semifinals the previous year. He played qualifier Pablo Carreño-Busta of Spain in the opening round, and won in straight sets, converting all seven of his break points to move into the second round, where he swept past qualifier Somdev Devvarman of India, dropping only five games en route to a victory in straight sets. He faced Frenchman Julien Benneteau, who had beaten him earlier in the year, in the third round. After a break of serve by Benneteau to start off the match, Federer rebounded and took the first set. Benneteau tried to make inroads on Federer's serve, but Federer continued to dominate, winning the next two sets to move to the fourth round, where he faced Frenchman Gilles Simon. Federer won the first set comfortably, but Simon began to fight back. Federer lost his rhythm after he fell on the baseline in the second set, and Simon capitalized to take the set and level the match at one set all. Simon took advantage of more unforced errors from Federer and won the third set, but Federer found his rhythm again and broke Simon's serve in the fourth, holding to level the match. Federer then secured an early break in the fifth and held to win the match, becoming the fourth person to have 900 wins on the ATP World Tour. He played Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals, where, after a decent start, Federer lost an early break advantage to Tsonga, and Tsonga broke again to take the first set. The next two sets saw Tsonga take a foothold on the match as numerous errors plagued Federer. Tsonga eventually won the match in straight sets.
Grass court season and Wimbledon
Halle Open Federer played at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, where he was the finalist last year. He played German wildcard Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in the second round. Though Federer struggled with his serve and made quite a few errors, including one in the first set which allowed Stebe to break his serve, Federer dominated most of the match and won in straight sets, marking his fortieth win at the Gerry Weber Open. He played German wildcard Mischa Zverev in the quarterfinals and swept past Zverev, not allowing him any games and breaking him a total of six times en route to a victory in forty minutes. Federer achieved his second double bagel of his career, his first since he double-bageled Gastón Gaudio at the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup. He then faced defending champion Tommy Haas in the semifinal. In a tight first set, Federer gave up a break point in the sixth game of the set, and Haas held the lead to win the set. The second set saw Federer win an early break point and level the match at one set all. Federer then broke Haas to love and held the lead to win the match. In the final, Federer played Russian Mikhail Youzhny. After wasted break point opportunities and unforced errors led to Youzhny edging Federer in the first set tiebreak, Federer improved his game and won the match to claim his first title of the season, tying John McEnroe for the third-most number of ATP titles won by a male player in the Open Era.
Wimbledon