You probably never expect to be the best at something, worldwide. If you get there though, if you work tirelessly for decades, achieve top tier performance AND manage to maintain it for years, I bet it would enrage you to hear people say you’re all washed up. It irritates me to hear the chatter that Roger Federer, having just moved back UP to the 3rd rank in the world, is done. But I strongly suspect it doesn’t bother Roger Federer at all.

There’s talk that Federer can’t keep up, now that he’s in his (*gasp*) thirties. Luckily, the march of time is a universal equalizer. Say what you will about younger contenders, but Nadal and Murray are the guys with the plague of pseudo-injuries. Not serious enough to keep you out of the game – just serious enough to bring up in the post-match interview when you get whooped? You won’t hear that from Federer.

Yes, Federer lost in Abu Dhabi to both Djokovic and Nadal, but it’s not like the man can’t compete. He knocked Djokovic out of the French semis back in May, and it’s been little more than a month since he wiped the courts with Nadal in a highly lauded match at the ATP World Tour Finals in London.

He’s gracefully managed milestones that have slowed down other athletes, somehow getting married and having twins with little disruption on the court. When Lleyton Hewitt (Who-it?) and Andy Roddick hit public puberty and started bringing girlfriends to their matches, we saw them more in celebrity news than we did on the sports pages. (Hewitt and Federer are the same age, by the way. That former #1, now finds himself ranked 186th.)

Tennis is a mental competition, and Roger Federer’s attitude is as unbreakable as his service game. Strength and stamina may take some dings over time, but his drive will keep him at the top of the rankings in 2012. Djokovic may be having the year of his life, but he’s is not always at peace on the court. Murray suffers from the same pressure-induced schizophrenia. When those guys blink, (and curse, and throw things…) Roger will be right there to capitalize on their frustration. He has essentially trained the competition. They learn his strokes and strategies, but until someone can knock him off the throne of focus, he’ll be lurking near the top of the heap.

Will Roger Federer be back in 2012? He didn’t even realize you thought he was gone.