There were times, more than a few, when I wished Roger Federer would go home to Switzerland and take up yodeling.

This would have been during the zenith of his career, which went on for most of a decade, when he hardly gave anyone else in the game room to breathe. It got to be a little bit tedious.

The man has won 17 grand slam events, and 16 of them came in the eight years from 2003 to 2010. Sure, we knew he was playing great tennis, but seeing him with the trophy became a ho-hum thing.

Thankfully, Rafael Nadal came along in 2005 and gave Federer resistance, especially on grass, and a few years after Novak Djokovic began his rise, followed by Andy Murray, and we talked about a Big Four.

But then Federer finally showed a bit of vulnerability, on the injuries side, suffering an injured knee that cost him most of the 2016 season, left him with an end-of-season ranking outside the top 10 for the first time since 2002, and left him seeded only 17th at the current Australian Open.

As is so often the case, concerning fans and journalists and great sports figures, our fatigue with the same old guy winning all the time … seems to evaporate in a hurry when that same old guy suddenly looks like he may not be competitive much longer.

Thus, it was with some pleasure that fans learned about Federer’s nuking of 10th seed Tomas Berdych 6-2, 6-4, 6-4, a victory that lifted Federer into the fourth round of the Oz Open, against Kei Nishikori.

We remembered what it was we liked about Federer — his style and his athletic economy. No wasted motion, nothing rushed or awkward. His ability to execute shots. His class and dignity and nearly impeccable court manners.

And, too, reporters like him for the generally sunny disposition he takes to the interview room, which makes him a pleasant interview subject.

So, yeah, don’t fade to black quite yet, Roger.

We have remembered that we like to have you around, and if you can get through a few more rounds in Melbourne, well, maybe we can watch you get to your 28th final — and first since the U.S. Open in 2015.

And if you can win it, your first major title since 2012 … well, fans love almost nothing more than a turn-back-the-clock performance by one of the greatest to play the game.