That didn’t matter and Roger Federer was champion in editions 06 and 07 of the tournament, defeating the Cypriot Marco Bagdadis.
His two greatest rivals (on the circuit and in history) cut the possibility of the title: in 2008, Novak Djokovic eliminated him in the semifinals; in 2009, he lost the final to Rafael Nadal.
The adversities did not matter and for 2010 he conquered his fourth Australian Open defeating perhaps the best English tennis player of recent times, Andy Murray.
Those were the sufferings of Roger Federer at the beginning of his career, but in the end the Swiss is by far the master of the tournament, no matter if he is participating or not.
The proof of Roger Federer’s dominance on the circuit is reflected in the 20 Masters that he has led to date, a figure that no other tennis player has managed to match.
It is believed that due to his age Rafael Nadal will be able to overcome it, but even if he does, there will be the asterisk that he only managed to overcome Roger Federer because he injured his knee at the beginning of 2020. The question of which of the two is the best tennis player will still be alive.
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