Why Federer's Win is Bad News

Like the Colossus, Federer is a wonder, a  very modern marvel. But that is where the good news end. For many enthralled by the wondrous sight of the glittering trophy of his 20th grand slam victory held aloft above that towering image, a little look below would have revealed too may underlings peeping between those storied legs.Too many young underlings. Tennis is a sport that thrives on new, young, exciting talents but at present it seems to suffer from the double fault of too many tournaments and very, very few emerging talents holding up a racquet. It was normal service resumed when Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray emerged to send Agassi, Hewitt and Sampras into retirement, such a prospect now seems very dim for the present masters who have gone far beyond the normal terminal tennis age. Grigor Dimitrov remains the eternal Baby Federer, Milos Raonic does not bring much beyond his huge service game and the Thiems, Nishikoris, Tomics thrive on too much muscles and baseline toils: blood, sweat and tears, when the most enduring images of tennis are those of ice-cool Federer floating over the courts like a butterfly and stinging like a bee.The Sandgrens and Edmunds might reach semi-finals now and then but many more are going to be bitten by the 'run bug', a burst of luck and energy that serve well for a tournament and then peter out for so many to come.
What tennis actually need now are not fairy tales but a Boris Becker at 17, a Federer at 23, a Nadal at 21and a Murray winning the junior boys' single. The feeder streams are presently very dry and with Djokovic and Murray set to return from injury, those who run tennis had better sit up, had better start looking for the young guns, real smoking guns, needed to bring the sport back to its service game. If it is to retain the crowds and the money