Does Federer have a motivation problem?

Yes you can see it on Rogers face, in his game, and by his actions. He stopped playing all together near the Fall of last year until the AO where he had Mono. His loss to Djokovic in Montreal was his first and was a real surprise to everyone. But Novak earned that one win. Loosing to Novak closely at the AO was the effects of Mono. Had Novak played Rafa and not Tsonga in the Semi there is no way Novak would have won the AO.

So for you people that say Roger is getting beat by Djoker there has only been the two losses, which is why Roger leads 6-2 in their head to head, Montreal which Nole earned and Oz which he lucked into.

So Lisa, Nole has Jack over Roger. So to luck into your one and only Grand Slam sure doesn't spell World #1 but 3rd after a 3 time French Open Champion like Nadal is where he belongs and behind Nadal is where he will be as long as Nadal keeps playing. Roger has so many wins, titles, and records that he may be getting burnt out playing players that give their all when they play him, and he is aging so perhaps his heart really isn't in it any more.

With 12 Grand Slams and possibly 2 more this year at Wimby & the USO, you can't blame him. He will beat Borg's Wimby record and Sampras' GS record. As for the French he does seem set on winning it next year which would be realistic if he put his total effort into it just to get the Grand Slam and get the monkey off his back and I'm sure Borg will say that Roger will win the French just to throw Nadal off and not have Rafa beat his 3 consecutive French Open title record just like he said today to Mac that Rafa will win Wimby. It's called gamesmanship. Borg would rather be tied for the record than a footnote saying the guy that the new record holder beat to get the record. Borg was great on grass and clay but since most tournis now are on hard court he would have a tuff time. Not only is hard court tougher to win on for a dirtballer, unless he has a BIG serve, but also harder on the body as well.

Yes Rogers motivation problem is that he has been winning too easily, too often, and been #1 too long. Finally Rafa and Nole decide to step up and now he needs to get back to work to stay ahead which by the way he will.

No I don't think Roger should be too worried. Nalbandian's just on a hot streak right now and Roger's had a history of problems with him. When it comes to the overall picture, Roger is firmly in control of his destiny having won 3 of 4 slams 2 years running. Nalbandian may be hot now but I don't see him doing this consistently. He was world number 3 and Masters Cup Champion in 2005 and now he's in the 20's! He neither has the motivation, focus, or fitness to challenge Roger's supremacy month after month, year after year. Roger may lose a few bad ones here and there but when the big tournaments come, he almost always delivers, except at the French against Nadal!

Roger Federer will remain highly motivated to win the French Open. And he will definitely want to beat Sampras' record for most majors. After that, assuming he can accomplish these goals, he may then feel like there is nothing left to accomplish....unless he wants to try to sweep all four Grand Slam in the same calendar year (unlikely, as he is not getting any younger while Djokovic and Nadal will probably only get better).

No, I think you need to give Rafa his credit, he's a great player. Remember Federer is not the only great player out there, Rafa is that other great player. He's an immortal on the clay. Same thing with Federer, when he beats everyone else we can't say that they are not motivated, give the credit to Federer for being better.

Yes he does have a motivation problem. But not just in this recent match. I'm talking since Dubai last year. Federer has lost that cutting edge. Now it's starting to affect him in a big way.

After this 2008 French Open, at 26, Federer is aware of three things:

1) He will never win the French Open if Rafa is on the other side of the net;

2) Time is against him;

3) Rafa is nearly unbeatable on clay and getting better on grass;

I watched NBC's replay of Wimbledon 2007: how different the result might have been if Rafa had not faced that 5-day mess of rain delays

He is loosing hunger to win because he has done everything there is except winning French Open he needs a coach because every times he plays nadal he faces mental block and same problem will emerge against Djokobitch

Yeah just cause you get everyone's best shot because they want to take down the number 1 seed. And since Federer has shown some vulnerability it gives some of his opponents competition. It definitely is taxing but the great players can continue play even with the pressure of having their great skill every game.

No, I don't think so, not when he's this close to Sampras's record of 14 slam titles, and not when he still needs to win the French Open to complete the career slam. He's chasing history, and if that isn't enough to keep him motivated I don't know what else could.

He is still motivated but he just can not beat Rafael Nadal on clay, nobody can.

yeap u r right he has his motivation problem being the world # 1 in tennis.