Baseline Awards: The highest model of efficiency

For any professional athlete in their mid-to-late 30s, preservation becomes more important than ever. No one demonstrated that more effectively than Roger Federer in 2017.

Returning to the court at the beginning of the year after an injury-shortened 2016 campaign, the Swiss legend started off play at the Hopman Cup. After that, the No-17 seed captured the Australian Open, his first Grand Slam title in nearly five years. He lost early in his next tournament in Doha, but rebounded to capture the “Sunshine Double”—the ATP Masters events in Indian Wells and Miami.

And then, it was time for a break—through the whole clay-court season.

Federer decided to skip the dirt in order to forego any discomfort and also to enter the grass-court season with fresh legs. That decision paid off as he won his second major title of the year at Wimbledon.

Federer next played the Masters event in Canada, reaching the final. A tender back forced him to skip the Cincinnati tournament, but he managed to advance to the quarterfinals at the US Open. He returned to the court in Shanghai and won the title, then took the crown at his home event in Basel.

He didn’t play the last ATP Masters tournament in Paris, but won all of his round-robin matches at the ATP Finals before being knocked out of the year-end championships by David Goffin in the semifinals. He would end up with a 52-5 record for the season.

Overall, the numbers were quite impressive for the Swiss superstar in 2017: 12 tour events played, seven titles won, a return to the No. 2 spot and a move up to second place among the men’s all-time title leaders. Plus, he picked up four wins against his top rival, Rafael Nadal.

That’s how you make the most of your time on the court.

Follow Van on Twitter: @Van_Sias

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