'I Hope to See You Next Year'

"I hope to see you next year," Roger Federer said in accepting the finalist trophy at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif., probably the biggest tournament outside of the majors and the end-of-the-year finals. They were welcome words for those who had missed any such promise at the Australian Open, though not exactly a resounding promise. Still, Federer sounded satisfied with his game, despite Juan Martin del Potro breaking his 17-match winning streak.

Del Potro's win was the second greatest of his career, after winning the U.S. Open in 2009, though winning the Silver medal in the 2016 Olympics is up there. Del Potro spoke of hoping to see fans next year, a poignant reminder of his battles with injuries, which have prevented him from playing for long stretches. He's now beaten Federer seven times, something to be proud of in and of itself. Who knows what greatness awaits him? He's still relatively young--29-years-old. Federer at 36 has shown great things are possible for professional tennis players into their 30s as long as they're able to avoid injuries.

Who knows? Maybe if he avoids injuries, Federer will be accomplishing great things in tennis in his 40s. But this must have been a disappointing loss, despite Federer's gracious, though grim-faced, award ceremony speech. Del Potro beat Federer at last year's U.S. Open too. Impossible as it seems, he's starting to look like he might have Federer's number. But he'll need much more decisive, consistent results against Federer to bear that prediction out, if Federer sticks around long enough for that to happen.