Like a quality wine, that only turns sweeter and gets better with time, Roger Federer seems to have found a new flavour in his game, namely the backhand. Roger Federer downed his compatriot and countryman Stan Wawrinka in the finals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Such has been his form of late, that he has flown through his matches without dropping a single set. Federer has had so many questions thrown at him, and many people had gone so far as to suggest him to throw the towel, but he has continued to weather the storm, and has silenced his critics with just one loss this season after winning two titles.

What has been so instrumental in Federer’s success? His backhand. Interestingly it was his father Robert who encouraged him to step in to the court and hit his backhand freely, rather than just chip and slice the ball away. In his words “hit the backhand dammit!”. His coach Ivan Ljubicic has also helped him transform his backhand into an aggressive option, and that is what helped him beat Rafael Nadal twice this year. Wawrinka who himself had a great week, jokingly called Roger an a*****e in his post match speech, which was taken lightheartedly by Federer. Stan also went on to say that he was his biggest fan and that he too cheered for him when he captured the Australian open this year.

Roger Federer continues his ascent in the rankings

He has now moved into the sixth position in the ATP Ranking, and with more than half the season remaining, he could pose a serious threat to the top two. But Federer says that he is still living the dream and does not have the world no.1 position in his sights, and that he is still on a comeback trail and lucky to be playing at such a high level at this age. Will he rise to world no.1 again for one last time before he hangs up his boots, still remains to be seen, as it is easier said than done, even for the caliber and class of Roger Federer. What it definitely means is though that he has announced his arrival after a six month lay off and has done it in some style, and shaken the cozy seats of the top ten players, and maybe the next generation players might just have to wait a little longer to carry forward the torch of tennis.