Federer and Regulus

When I first had a look at Federer’s solar return for this year, what impressed me was that his natal ascendant ruler (Mercury) was conjunct the SR Midheaven in Leo and they were both conjunct Regulus. In fact, Mercury was extremely close at 29o57΄ Leo. So, I thought, that's nice, this could be a year that he returns to the top after falling short to Nadal and Djokovic for the last two years.

However, it didn’t turn out to be so. The first grand slam after his birthday was the US Open, where he lost to Djokovic, after a dramatic semi-final. Then he had a great end of the season, but Federer always plays great indoors, so that was nothing extraordinary. The next grand slam was the Australian Open where he lost to Nadal in the semi-final. He continued to play great though, he won three ATP world tour titles, but still no grand slam, which I would expect from Regulus. Then came the French Open, which is a Nadal thing, so, again, no win there.

I thought that perhaps Regulus has moved into Virgo and the conjunction doesn’t count. Still, Mercury is very, very close. Perhaps all could be explained by Mercury being retrograde. Or perhaps by the SR Ascendant ruler (Mars) in the 8^th house and in fall. But Mars in Cancer is also his natal placement. Anyway, I gave up.

And then came Wimbledon. Before the start of the games, I read an article that said that Federer could regain his No 1 status on three conditions: Federer MUST win the title, Nadal has to lose before the quarter finals AND Djokovic shouldn’t reach the final. I thought, no way, that’s impossible.

Then Nadal lost in the second round by the No 100 in the world. I started to hope, because when Nadal is out, Federer always plays better, but there was still the Djokovic problem. Federer himself would have to beat Djokovic if they both reached the semi-finals. Surprisingly, he did! Federer played a great game and he was much better than Djokovic.

The only obstacle remaining was Murray at the final. Murray started better, won the first set and played better in the second, but, quite unexpectedly, Federer broke him in the last game of the second set and from then on he had the upper hand. Federer won and became World No 1 once again, just before this year’s solar return expires. How fitting.