When did Federer officially become old?

[Third Serve]

The bolded red doesn't seem to be right. There are other minor disagreements, but it is a matter of opinion (for example, I don't understand how Djokovic's 2012 and 2013 seasons can be "Great", but 2015 only "Very good". Also 2009 "Poor"? Don't understand also how some seasons are given as two things at once, and some are not)

That first one was a typo. I meant to say “Very Good” for Djokovic’s 2011 season. Apologies.

To clarify, I use “Very good” to define only the very best seasons, such as Djoker’s 2011 or 2015. “Great” is used to define a second-tier season, like Federer’s 2009 or 2017; still awesome, but slightly less so.

In hindsight, I probably should have rated Djokovic’s 2009 season. He was at least better than in 2010. Editing now

 

[Tennis_Hands]

That first one was a typo. I meant to say “Very Good” for Djokovic’s 2011 season. Apologies.

To clarify, I use “Very good” to define only the very best seasons, such as Djoker’s 2011 or 2015. “Great” is used to define a second-tier season, like Federer’s 2009 or 2017; still awesome, but slightly less so.

In hindsight, I probably should have rated Djokovic’s 2009 season. He was at least better than in 2010. Editing now

I see.

For some reason I thought that "Great" is the best mark.

 

[Eren]

Djokovic and Nadal are of the same generation and roughly the same age. Anything about age being important in relation to them is nonsensical.

And every last one of them counts the same as the 6 previous ones. Anyone could counter that and say the majority of Federer's Slams were won without beating an ATG. Irrelevant.

This is true. Nadal had many times owned pre-peak Djokovic at RG (06-08). No reason to discount Djokovic's wins now they are finally meeting OFF of clay so often (as it should be).

Even Djokovic's Slam finals are okay distributed regarding surface.

Slam Finals at AO: 2-0 Djokovic
Slam Finals at RG: 2-0 Nadal
Slam Finals at Wim: 1-0 Djokovic
Slam Finals at USO: 2-1 Nadal

Good distribution IMO, they played 5 finals on HC (the surface that is played on most of the time), 2 on clay (second most common surface) and 1 on grass (least common surface). Both have played each other twice at their most preferred major event.

Fed was owned by four RG finals

Slam Finals at AO: 1-1
Slam Finals at RG: 4-0 Nadal
Slam Finals at Wim: 2-1 Federer
Slam Finals at USO: N/A

They played 4 finals on clay, 3 on grass and 2 HC (with both finals being played in a period of 8 years between them lol). Played each other most of the time on clay (Nadal's best and Federer's worst surface).

 

[NoleFam]

This is true. Nadal had many times owned pre-peak Djokovic at RG (06-08). No reason to discount Djokovic's wins now they are finally meeting OFF of clay so often (as it should be).

Even Djokovic's Slam finals are okay distributed regarding surface.

Slam Finals at AO: 2-0 Djokovic
Slam Finals at RG: 2-0 Nadal
Slam Finals at Wim: 1-0 Djokovic
Slam Finals at USO: 2-1 Nadal

Good distribution IMO, they played 5 finals on HC (the surface that is played on most of the time), 2 on clay (second most common surface) and 1 on grass (least common surface). Both have played each other twice at their most preferred major event.

Fed was owned by four RG finals

Slam Finals at AO: 1-1
Slam Finals at RG: 4-0 Nadal
Slam Finals at Wim: 2-1 Federer
Slam Finals at USO: N/A

They played 4 finals on clay, 3 on grass and 2 HC (with both finals being played in a period of 8 years between them lol). Played each other most of the time on clay (Nadal's best and Federer's worst surface).

I pretty much agree with all of this and good point about the Slam finals with Djokodal compared to Fedal. Djokodal's are relative to the way the tour is according to surface and Fedal's are not.

 

[NoleFam]

 

[Poisoned Slice]

30, 31, 32, 33, 34

 

[BHud]

With the birth of his first set of twins...

 

[tennisfan2015]

No one denied or altered he h2h

However one needs to keep in mind that the path to success since 2014 have come against ‘aged’ rivals . Everyone saw what happened between 2012-13 when the competition was strong

Yes the success of Fedr has come against "aged" competition during 2003-2006. So, he is copping it from 2011 to present, as well. Too bad.

 

[Zetty]

2013, then he got young in 2014, then back to old in later 2018.

 

[tennisaddict]

Yes the success of Fedr has come against "aged" competition during 2003-2006. So, he is copping it from 2011 to present, as well. Too bad.

LOL. That period had some of the youngest top 10 ever.

Anyway this is more about when and how many Djoker won from Wimb 14

 

[helterskelter]

Agassi wasn't at his best in 2003. In 2003 he was 33 years old. In 2003 there was no Sampras or prime Federer to compete against, that is the reason why he won the AO 2003.

In 1990 he played 2 GS finals (RG and USO), rather than only 1 like in 2003. He lost the USO final against the child prodigy Sampras and the RG final because of the psychological pression of thinking his wig would fall (he wrote about this in his autobiography). Agassi was undoubtedly a faster and better player in 1990 than 2003.

The wig thing is a stupid excuse, but I do agree that his level of play was high in 1990. On the other hand, his level of play was not very high in 1991. Probably lower than in 2003, and certainly lower than in 1999. And that was my point in the previous post. His best years were discontinuous: his average level was probably best in 1990, 1995, and 1999 (in chronological order). Late 1994, too, but not early 1994.

N.B. His average level was also very high in 1988, even though he was only 18 then.

 

[KINGROGER]

Post 2012.

He was past his best after 2010 AO but still played prime tennis at some events in 2010-2012.

2013 was a disaster post AO. 2014-2016 was a different player with a new racket. Weak ground game. Serve reliant.

 

[KINGROGER]

Or is it simply a matchup effect, were Federer became more effective in older age vs Nad/Mur.. and less effective vs Djo?
Perhaps when they meet he reminds him of his old age?

Yeah you got it with this paragraph minus the dump trolling at the end.

He matched up better vs Murray who was worse himself. He also played him at 3 of his best events.

Nadal’s speed/defence declined a lot so their 2017 matches were decided by the better technical tennis player/ball striker.

 

[KINGROGER]

Federer's winning percentage against top10 not named Djokovic (since 2008):

2015 - 92.3
2017 - 87.5
2014 - 82.4
2010 - 70.6
2012 - 70
2009 - 65
2011 - 64.3
2018 - 50
2008 - 35.7
2013 - 33.3
2016 - 25

LOL 2014-2018 joke weak era confirmed. Grandpa no FH Fed dominating the weak top 10.

He was better at big events in 2008-2012 pick any year.

 

[KINGROGER]

One of the last appearances of peak Hairerer who would make a further appearance then cameos at 2012 YEC, 2013 AO... never to be seen again once he got that 2013 haircut

 

[Red Rick]

One of the last appearances of peak Hairerer who would make a further appearance then cameos at 2012 YEC, 2013 AO... never to be seen again once he got that 2013 haircut

Only Djokovic has been granted the eternal hair peak by the gods. It is the sign of their favour it seems.

Murray peaked at Wimbledon 2016 in my opinion, it's gone downhill since

 

[SecondServeAce]

Agassi is a different case and I do believe he was as good of a player at 29 that he was at 25. I do think he began to slow down in late 2000 but he also is not in the same league of an athlete as the big 3 are. Jordan, on other hand, is a phenomenon who did not follow any set protocol or standard. He won his NBA titles and had his best stats and results from 28-35 years of age. In fact, most NBA players peak in their late 20's or early 30's and I also disagree about Lebron being better when he was younger and with Miami. When a player is supremely athletic, and this is true across multiple sports, age is not as detrimental as to someone who is not as athletic and some achieve their peak later than others. As for Nadal began declining in 2011 at 25 years old? I don't see how you believe that.

MJ wasn't nearly as good in his 30s (during the 2nd 3-peat) that he was in the 80s and first 3-peat. He had to develop the fadeaway jumper/post up again to offset his physical decline. Yea I would say the decline for Nadal started to hit in the 2011-2012 timeframe. He wasn't quite the specimen he was from 2008-2010 .

 

[swordtennis]

We used to just have nadal is undefeated when he wins.
Now we have fed is invincible when he wins and is not old!

 

[Zhilady]

From the 2005 Wimbledon to the 2010 Australian Open, Federer made 18 finals of the 19 Slams he appeared in.

From the 2010 French Open to the 2014 US Open, Federer made 2 finals of the 19 Slams he appeared in.

I don’t know if he got old after the 2010 Australian Open or not, but I think it’s obvious that he was never quite the same after that.

 

[Rosstour]

From the 2005 Wimbledon to the 2010 Australian Open, Federer made 18 finals of the 19 Slams he appeared in.

From the 2010 French Open to the 2014 US Open, Federer made 2 finals of the 19 Slams he appeared in.

I don’t know if he got old after the 2010 Australian Open or not, but I think it’s obvious that he was never quite the same after that.

Right, and that supports my theory that he was slightly declined but not "old" since 2010 basically coincides with Nadal's peak and Djoker's ascension.

Statistically, athletes peak around 26. Baseball, the grandfather of analytics, has taught us that. That's 2007-08 for Federer, which obviously was a fateful time for him.

He was able to fight Father Time off better than any athlete ever aside from Brady, and we didn't notice because Nadal and Djokovic came along right as he hit that crucial age.

Without them he would have continued to easily dominate the game for another 5 years.

 

[Bukowski]

When he started wearing polos full time in '08.

 

[axlrose]

We used to just have nadal is undefeated when he wins.
Now we have fed is invincible when he wins and is not old!

So what? Fedr deserves all those worships.

According to KCNA, a high class member of the Korean Worker's Party was hit by a truck and severely wounded. Best doctors all over the country tried their best but the situation was still getting worse. One guy proposed: Why don't we let him watch portrait of the great leader Kim Jong Un? Normally this treatment cures all diseases. Unfortunately it did not work that time and the man was going to die. His family members gathered around his bed to see him for the last time, among them there's a boy wearing a t-shirt with Roger's face on it. The man looked around and saw Roger, miraculously, he sat up and began to talk. One hour later, he fully recovered like nothing ever happened.

Some say Federer is tennis, it's soooooooo wrong because Federer is bigger than tennis!

 

[tennisfan2015]

Some cultures they measure age from conception.

So elephants must be much older

 

[Enceladus]

No one denied or altered he h2h

However one needs to keep in mind that the path to success since 2014 have come against ‘aged’ rivals . Everyone saw what happened between 2012-13 when the competition was strong

You don't know that Djoker was mentally weakened at the time?! The fact that he won 3 GS titles in 2015 and 2 in 2016 was because he got rid of that psychic fragility. That's why Becker has become a Novak's coach to help him strengthen his psychic strength, which has succeeded.

 

[tennisaddict]

You don't know that Djoker was mentally weakened at the time?! The fact that he won 3 GS titles in 2015 and 2 in 2016 was because he got rid of that psychic fragility. That's why Becker has become a Novak's coach to help him strengthen his psychic strength, which has succeeded.

He was mentally stronk in 2011, became weak in 2012-13, again Stronk from 2015-16 and then began to be weak again from 2017 till mid 2018 ?

 

[Tennis_Hands]

He was mentally stronk in 2011, became weak in 2012-13, again Stronk from 2015-16 and then began to be weak again from 2017 till mid 2018 ?

I have Lew on record saying that 2012-2-14 was Djoke's peak.

The conversation was about clay though, so maybe we should make separate charts for peaks for

- surface
- moral
- physical
- Mejores

 

[KINGROGER]

You don't know that Djoker was mentally weakened at the time?! The fact that he won 3 GS titles in 2015 and 2 in 2016 was because he got rid of that psychic fragility. That's why Becker has become a Novak's coach to help him strengthen his psychic strength, which has succeeded.

It helps that Nadal fell off a cliff and Federer couldn’t challenge him over BO5.

Stick 2011-2012 Fed into 2015-2016 and I’m willing to bet he wins a W/USO off Nole. Probably in 2014 and 2015 with them possibly splitting the Wimbledon matches and 2015 going 5 sets.

RG too with his 2011 form.

 

[Enceladus]

He was mentally stronk in 2011, became weak in 2012-13, again Stronk from 2015-16 and then began to be weak again from 2017 till mid 2018 ?

At AO 2012 he was still mentally strong, he mastered unpleasant and difficult moments against Murray and Nadal. But then he began to lose his champions instinct, which was fully reflected in 2013 - not keeping a break in the fifth set against Nadal in the RG semifinal (the infamous fall into the net), spoiled third set against Nadal in the USO final, etc. Winning in the Wimbledon 2014 finale has got rid of psychic fragility, by the way this picture shows how much Djoker has relieved:

Period 2017-1. Half of 2018 was a game collapse.

It helps that Nadal fell off a cliff and Federer couldn’t challenge him over BO5.

Stick 2011-2012 Fed into 2015-2016 and I’m willing to bet he wins a W/USO off Nole. Probably in 2014 and 2015 with them possibly splitting the Wimbledon matches and 2015 going 5 sets.

RG too with his 2011 form.

Well No1e lost a lot of hypothetical matches on TTW. He is great only in real tennis matches.

 

[Im(moral) Winner]

At AO 2012 he was still mentally strong, he mastered unpleasant and difficult moments against Murray and Nadal. But then he began to lose his champions instinct, which was fully reflected in 2013 - not keeping a break in the fifth set against Nadal in the RG semifinal (the infamous fall into the net), spoiled third set against Nadal in the USO final, etc. Winning in the Wimbledon 2014 finale has got rid of psychic fragility, by the way this picture shows how much Djoker has relieved:

Period 2017-1. Half of 2018 was a game collapse.


Well No1e lost a lot of hypothetical matches on TTW. He is great only in real tennis matches.

First half of the post about him coming short in matches due to mental struggles
But with the last line says he's great in tennis matches
Interesting

 

[Doctor/Lawyer Red Devil]

He was mentally stronk in 2011, became weak in 2012-13, again Stronk from 2015-16 and then began to be weak again from 2017 till mid 2018 ?

The competition was weak in 2011, then ultra stronk in 2012-13, suddenly awful in 2014, catastrophic in 2015-16 and disastrous in 2018-present. Djokr has been the same throughout the entire decade.

Satisfying enough?

 

[Enceladus]

First half of the post about him coming short in matches due to mental struggles
But with the last line says he's great in tennis matches
Interesting

There is no contradiction in my message. Novak was mentally fragile in 2013, why deny it? Fortunately, the mental fragility was he able to get rid of it.

@KINGROGER thinks that if Roger-version 2011-12 was transferred to 2015, he would beat Novak in the Wimbledon final or the US Open final. Only Novak has exceeded expectations many times. In particular against Federer and Nadal, Ultron can improve his game level unexpectedly. Roger version 2011-12 would for Ultron 2015 was not an insurmountable obstacle.

 

[KINGROGER]

At AO 2012 he was still mentally strong, he mastered unpleasant and difficult moments against Murray and Nadal. But then he began to lose his champions instinct, which was fully reflected in 2013 - not keeping a break in the fifth set against Nadal in the RG semifinal (the infamous fall into the net), spoiled third set against Nadal in the USO final, etc. Winning in the Wimbledon 2014 finale has got rid of psychic fragility, by the way this picture shows how much Djoker has relieved:

Period 2017-1. Half of 2018 was a game collapse.


Well No1e lost a lot of hypothetical matches on TTW. He is great only in real tennis matches.

Yeah true he is great at beating grandpa Fed and Mauresmo Murray. Not quite as great when he has to play prime Fedal.

 

[I Am Finnish]

Since he had mono

 

[Lew II]

There is no contradiction in my message. Novak was mentally fragile in 2013, why deny it? Fortunately, the mental fragility was he able to get rid of it.

@KINGROGER thinks that if Roger-version 2011-12 was transferred to 2015, he would beat Novak in the Wimbledon final or the US Open final. Only Novak has exceeded expectations many times. In particular against Federer and Nadal, Ultron can improve his game level unexpectedly. Roger version 2011-12 would for Ultron 2015 was not an insurmountable obstacle.

Everyone is mentally fragile when is losing.

2012-14 Djokovic was great but he had 3-4 opponents who were hard to dominate.

 

[Deleted member 293577]

Fed ain't old, you young whippersnappers!!

 

[KINGROGER]

There is no contradiction in my message. Novak was mentally fragile in 2013, why deny it? Fortunately, the mental fragility was he able to get rid of it.

@KINGROGER thinks that if Roger-version 2011-12 was transferred to 2015, he would beat Novak in the Wimbledon final or the US Open final. Only Novak has exceeded expectations many times. In particular against Federer and Nadal, Ultron can improve his game level unexpectedly. Roger version 2011-12 would for Ultron 2015 was not an insurmountable obstacle.

100% USO final. A worse Fed had 23 BP... 2011 version who went 2-0 vs a better Nole and held double MP I’d fancy to take it in 4.

Wimbledon 50/50.

 

[Enceladus]

Yeah true he is great at beating grandpa Fed and Mauresmo Murray. Not quite as great when he has to play prime Fedal.

Don't say , No1e in three consecutive GS finals defeated Prime Nadal.

Everyone is mentally fragile when is losing.

2012-14 Djokovic was great but he had 3-4 opponents who were hard to dominate.

In the period between AO 2012 and Wimbledon 2014, Djoker had a balance in the GS finals 1:5, in the period from Wimbledon 2014 have a 9:2 balance. Clear trend change.

 

[KINGROGER]

Don't say, No1e in three consecutive GS finals defeated Prime Nadal.


In the period between AO 2012 and Wimbledon 2014, Djoker had a balance in the GS finals 1:5, in the period from Wimbledon 2014 have a 9:2 balance. Clear trend change.

Then lost to Nadal, Federer and Murray at the next 3 slams.

 

[Lew II]

Don't say , No1e in three consecutive GS finals defeated Prime Nadal.


In the period between AO 2012 and Wimbledon 2014, Djoker had a balance in the GS finals 1:5, in the period from Wimbledon 2014 have a 9:2 balance. Clear trend change.

But he lost to Nadal x3 and Murray x2.

You can't always win against players of this level.

 

[BrokenGears]

After 2012. Revitalization in 2015

 

[Mark-Touch]

The number one keyword for most search results would probably be "Federer xx age"

This is often brought up when discussing H2H.. somehow Federers matches vs Djokovic when he was 18-19.. in early rounds COUNT in the H2H..
Also the breathing problem years before 2011.. they also count in the h2h.
But matches at the top stages like 2014-2015 slam finals do not count, because Federer was old!

But, somehow its super relevant when Federer was able to fix his negative H2H vs Murray in his OLDER age
Same goes for Nadal, who had an 23-10 lead in 2014..

...The age of Federer is a true mystery, only understod by the hardest of hardcore Fedfans out there in the world.

He never did. He's still as young as a spring chicken!

 

[TheNachoMan]

I’ve always wondered this. It seems very arbitrary. I guess when Nadal/Djokovic started to beat him consistently

 

[Third Serve]

I’ve always wondered this. It seems very arbitrary. I guess when Nadal/Djokovic started to beat him consistently

I see you’ve opted for the “full troll” mode on your return to the forum

 

[TheNachoMan]

I see you’ve opted for the “full troll” mode on your return to the forum

A bit trollish, but kind of genuine. The Fed age excuses are as tiresome as the Nadal injury excuses. If not more so.

 

[Third Serve]

Why don’t we look at the H2H stats themselves and how they fit in to each players' seasons? Skip to the bottom if you're short on time.

Here's how I rank seasons in order of worst to best in case some find my metric unclear:
Poor (It should be obvious)
OK (Good slam showing, not many big titles; usually slamless unless the player wins one slam but no other big titles)
Good (One slam; a few masters or the WTF)
Great (Two slams, a few masters and the WTF)
Very Good (Again, it should be obvious)

Matches in 2006: 1 (H2H 1-0) -- Federer season: Very good -- Djokovic season: Poor
Matches in 2007: 4 (H2H 3-1) -- Federer season: Very good -- Djokovic season: Good
Matches in 2008: 3 (H2H 2-1) -- Federer season: Good -- Djokovic season: Good (A rare tie in level of play!!! )
Matches in 2009: 5 (H2H 2-3) -- Federer season: Great -- Djokovic season: OK
Matches in 2010: 5 (H2H 4-1) -- Federer season: Good -- Djokovic season: Poor
Matches in 2011: 5 (H2H 1-4) -- Federer season: OK -- Djokovic season: Very good
Matches in 2012: 5 (H2H 2-3) -- Federer season: Good -- Djokovic season Great
Matches in 2013: 2 (H2H 0-2) -- Federer season: Poor -- Djokovic season: Great
Matches in 2014: 5 (H2H 3-2) -- Federer season: OK -- Djokovic season: Good (H2H does not include walkover in the WTF)
Matches in 2015: 8 (H2H 3-5) -- Federer season: Good -- Djokovic season: Very good
Matches in 2016: 1 (H2H 0-1) -- Federer season: Poor -- Djokovic season: Very good, then Poor after RG; Overall Great
Matches in 2017: 0 (H2H 0-0) -- Federer season: Great -- Djokovic season: Poor
Matches in 2018: 2 (H2H 0-2) -- Federer season: OK -- Djokovic season: Poor, then Great; Overall Good

If we count 2010 as the final year for Djokovic playing "poorly" and 2011 as the year when Federer began to "age", that leaves us with:

Pre-2011: 18 matches played
2011-present: 28 matches played

I'm not a huge fan of the age argument as it doesn't factor in level of play (Ex. Fed had a great 2017 season despite being 35 yrs old). Let's use level of play itself:

Matches played in seasons when Federer was clearly the better player: 15
Matches played in seasons when Djokovic was clearly the better player: 23
Matches played in seasons when Federer and Djokovic were playing at roughly a similar level: 8 (funnily enough, these matches are equally split between the players)

For the third statistic, I picked the 2008 and 2012 seasons; you're free to add or remove seasons.

I realize that it's impossible to truly compare seasons with H2H as sometimes, a player can have an excellent season and lose a lot to one player because of matchups and have a weaker season but totally own that player due to reversing the matchup.

What would end the argument IMO is if three matches were played in 2017 to make up for 2016 and 2018; this would tie the H2H and leave it out of the debate when regarding actual achievements.

My answer to the OP: Fed started to really become old in the year he turned 32: 2013. After this he began to make many changes in his game to accommodate for his declining power and movement (The bigger racket, the SABR, and an increased reliance on volleys to end points quicker). This does not mean that Djokovic's wins against Fed post-2014 are useless. I was just answering the question. Feel free to make up your own mind.

I’m pretty sure this was one of my very first posts on TTW. My opinions have definitely changed over time but I still agree with the overall conclusion I made here. I think 2013 is when we can reliably say Fed was “old”. He was still at a prime level in 2008-2009 and pretty near that in 2011-2012 (2010 was just weird overall) so while you can say he was worse than in 2004-2007, he wasn’t that much physically weaker. Post-2013 is when Fed really started trying to compensate for his aging body (new racket, new gameplan, careful scheduling, etc.).

 

[TheNachoMan]

I’m pretty sure this was one of my very first posts on TTW. My opinions have definitely changed over time but I still agree with the overall conclusion I made here. I think 2013 is when we can reliably say Fed was “old”. He was still at a prime level in 2008-2009 and pretty near that in 2011-2012 (2010 was just weird overall) so while you can say he was worse than in 2004-2007, he wasn’t that much physically weaker. Post-2013 is when Fed really started trying to compensate for his aging body (new racket, new gameplan, careful scheduling, etc.).

I’d say 2014/2015 Fed is at least equal to if not superior to 2010-2012 Fed. He only showed serious decline in late 2017

 

[Blahovic]

I think 2013 is the obvious cut off point. He had some physical issues in the 2007-12 era and also tried to become a more aggressive player, but generally his movement was fantastic in that era. He lost some confidence though after he stopped winning so much.

Federer doesn't have a physical decline reason for losses like Nadal Wimbledon 2008, Delpo US Open 2009, Djokovic 2010 US Open, Djokovic 2011 US Open, Nadal 2012 Australian Open. The level of his tennis and movement was good to great in all those matches. He just couldn't get over the finish line against some tough opponents, that's all.

From 2013 onwards things began to change a lot for him.

 

[Third Serve]

I’d say 2014/2015 Fed is at least equal to if not superior to 2010-2012 Fed. He only showed serious decline in late 2017

Nah, I don’t think so. His ground game was clearly worse than in 2010-2012, especially on the FH side. That’s why he switched to more of an old-school serve-dominant game; it was an attempt to mask his weakness at the baseline and in lateral movement. It was largely successful against weaker players but he had better success against Djokovic at the big stages in 2011-2012 because his game actually troubled Novak back then. If you look at some of those matches, Novak really didn’t like exchanging shots with Fed’s forehand because it was one of the few offensive weapons out there that could actually do some damage to his wall-like defense. This hasn’t happened after 2013 save for the first half of 2017 (imo Fed’s FH improvement that year is underrated; it deserves more praise than the Neo BH).

If it wasn't for Fed winning the AO, I would actually consider giving you 2010 because Fed had a pretty rough patch in the middle of the season (possible injury? I forgot). But the Slam win (as well as the WTF win) seals the deal for me.

You could also look at the actual seasons and the relevant tournaments (and no this is definitely not an excuse for me to use the table feature again, no sir):

Red = what I think was the worst -- discounting walkovers (which are marked here as "N/A")
Green = what I think was the best

The numbers indicate ranking order.

Tournament	2010	2011	2012	2014	2015
AO	Won (1)	Lost to Djokovic in SF (2)	Lost to Nadal in SF (3)	Lost to Nadal in SF (4)	Lost to Seppi in 4R (5)
Indian Wells	Lost in 3R to Baghdatis (LOL - 5)	Lost in SF to Djokovic (3)	Won (1)	Lost in F to Djokovic (2)	Lost in F to Djokovic (4)
Miami	Lost in QF to Berdych (1)	Lost in SF to Nadal (2)	Lost in 3R to Roddick (4)	Lost in QF to Nishikori (3)	N/A
Monte-Carlo	N/A	Lost in QF to Melzer (2)	N/A	Lost in F to Wawrinka (1)	Lost in 3R to Monfils (3)
Madrid	Lost in F to Nadal (2)	Lost in SF to Nadal (3)	Won (1)	N/A	Lost in 2R to Kyrgios (4)
Rome	Lost in 2R to Gulbis (2 - tie)	Lost in 3R to Gasquet (2 - tie)	Lost in SF to Djokovic (1 - tie)	Lost in 2R to Chardy (2 - tie)	Lost in F to Djokovic (1 - tie)
RG	Lost in QF to Soderling (2)	Lost in F to Nadal (1)	Lost in SF to Djokovic (3)	Lost in 4R to Gulbis (4)	Lost in QF to Wawrinka (5)
W	Lost in QF to Berdych (5)	Lost in QF to Tsonga (4)	Won (1)	Lost in F to Djokovic (2)	Lost to Djokovic in F (3)
Canada	Lost in F to Murray (1 - tied)	Lost in 3R to Tsonga (2)	N/A	Lost in F to Tsonga (1 - tied)	N/A
Cincinnati	Won (3)	Lost in QF to Berdych (5)	Won (2)	Won (4)	Won (1)

US Open	Lost in SF to Djokovic (2 - tie)	Lost in SF to Djokovic (1)	Lost in QF to Berdych (3)	Lost in SF to Cilic (4)	Lost in F to Djokovic (2 - tie)
Shanghai	Lost in F to Murray (2 - tie)	N/A	Lost in SF to Murray (2 - tie)	Won (1)	Lost in 2R to Ramos Vinolas (3)
Paris	Lost in SF to Monfils (2)	Won (1)	N/A	Lost in QF to Raonic (3)	Lost in 3R to Isner (4)
ATP Finals	Won (1)	Won (2)	Lost in F to Djokovic (3)	Withdrew from F (5)	Lost in F to Djokovic (4)

A few of the rankings are definitely arguable (particularly the one for Indian Wells I reckon) but I think this conveys a general sense of which seasons were better and which weren't.

2015 I think gets too much credit for just a handful of (admittedly great) tournaments and it leads people to ignore the many, many bad losses Fed had that year. For sure his summer grass/HC streak was good though. It's about neck and neck with 2014 for last place.

2014 was probably the least consistent of these seasons. As you can see on the table, there's a healthy mix of legitimately great tournaments (Shanghai, Wimbledon) and some pretty weird outings (the Gulbis RG match).

2011 had a few more strange losses than I remembered but it still had some great moments.

2012 was pretty obviously going to be the #1 here. Fed was just about prime level for a good chunk of it, or at least up until the strange Berdych match at the US Open. Not to mention he also made it to the Olympics final, but I excluded it in the table because you can't compare it to seasons in which the Olympics weren't held.

So yeah, that's probably more comprehensive than you were looking for but it outlines my thinking about right.

 

[BlueB]

Last century.

 

[socallefty]

After he started having multiple knee injuries in 2021. Before that, he was still making Slam finals and semifinals, typically losing only to Djokovic or Nadal (on clay).