While Nadal emerged this year as Federer’s toughest opponent on any surface, mononucleosis provided his stiffest challenge. The virus that causes the illness can tear through the body like a storm, with vestiges affecting the body for months. In 2007, Mario Ancic, a Croat who had cracked the top 10 at the end of 2006, contracted the illness, sat out six months to recover and saw his world ranking…

Roger Federer owns a dazzling array of shots, a keen court sense and a winning disposition.

He’s also got a pretty good set of ears. And he could hear what the tennis world was saying about him: At 27, his reign at the top was over.

“I was aware of it,” he said.

Whatever, that version of the vulnerable Federer who was TAGS:Epstein Barr virus, Federer, kissing disease, Mononucleosis, Roger, Roger Federer treatment of mononucleosis