Wimbledon - Advantage Federer as Wimbledon beckons

Eurosport - Mon, 22 Jun 14:37:00 2009

Roger Federer begins his campaign for a sixth Wimbledon title today, rejuvenated by finally lifting his French Open jinx and seeing injured rival Rafael Nadal limp out of contention.

TENNIS 2008 Federer Wimbledon - 0

Twelve months ago, Federer's five-year All England Club domination was brought to an end by Nadal in a five-set classic now widely regarded as the greatest Grand Slam final of all time.

But with deposed Roland Garros champion Nadal forced to pull out to rest his injured knees, Federer has a golden opportunity to move within one title of Pete Sampras's record of seven Wimbledon triumphs.

"I don't feel like I have extra pressure," said world number two Federer.

"There's a lot of weight off my shoulders since Paris. So I'm entering tournaments a little bit more relaxed these days."

Federer will open proceedings on Centre Court against Taiwan's Yen-Hsun Lu in what will be his first tennis since beating Robin Soderling in the Roland Garros final.

He missed the grasscourt tournament at Halle but is now refreshed and ready to go.

"I was mentally drained because I felt like I had to play like four finals at the end of Paris because of the pressure," he said.

Federer is a player reborn.

Five months ago, his tearful exit after losing to Nadal in the Australian Open final was interpreted as an emotional confession that his era was over.

But marriage and impending fatherhood have given the 27-year-old a new perspective on his personal life while his Paris breakthrough, which took him level with Sampras on 14 Majors, have combined to make him the overwhelming favourite.

"I have achieved more than I ever thought I would," said Federer.

"My dream as a boy was to win Wimbledon one day. I won that five times, like one wasn't enough.

"I think I still have many more tournaments to go and many more Grand Slams. I am not addicted to beating all possible records, but I'm very proud of them."

With Nadal sidelined, Federer's likely title rivals will be Andy Murray, who's bidding to become the first British men's champion since Fred Perry in 1936, former two-time runner-up Andy Roddick and world number four Novak Djokovic.

Murray, buoyed by being the first British winner at Queen's since Bunny Austin in 1938, boasts a 6-2 winning record over Federer.

A quarter-final place last year is his best showing at Wimbledon where he was outclassed by Nadal in straight sets.

The 22-year-old world number three vowed not to get distracted by the desperate hype of the home crowds.

"A lot of people use it as an excuse as to why a Briton hasn't won Wimbledon for so long but I don't feel it makes any difference once the tournament starts," he said.

"It's easy to get caught up in all of the hype. But I'll prepare the same as I do for all the big tournaments.

"I would love to win Wimbledon one day, but I don't think about it too much. I could easily lose in the first round if I have an off day."

World number four Djokovic was the runner-up on grass at Halle, but immediately wrote off his chances at Wimbledon where last year he was knocked out in the second round by Marat Safin.

Recently-married Roddick, the runner-up to Federer in 2004 and 2005, has plenty to prove.

It's been six years since the American won his one and only Grand Slam title, but that 2003 US Open triumph preceded the Federer-Nadal era and the fear remains that Roddick's game is too unsophisticated for the new age.

AFP

Comment 32 - 51 of 51

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  1. @ comment 52 i totally agree with you!.....PEOPLE SHUD­ LEAVE NADAL OUT OF ROGER'S SUCCESSSS!!!.
    ROGER HAS­ BEEN A CONSISTENT PLAYER, i dnt kno why everyone­ including the media keep sayin he's winnin because­ nadal is not there, its not a fair or nice thing to­ say. JUST IGNORE THEM ROGER!!!! who cares! You are­ doing yourself proud, yOur family and your loved ones­ proud and your fans too, of cos and alll that matters­ is that u have your 14 grand slam titles and u are­ still in good shape and have made so much different­ history 4 eg no of appearances on grand slam finals,­ and we all know you are yet to make more history,
    ITS­ TIME PPL START GIVIN ROGER FEDERER THE CREDIT HE­ DESERVES N LEAVE NADAL OUT OF ROGER'S­ SUCCESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
    roger is such a­ graceful player u haav no option but to just love watch­ him play.

    oh well i guess don't kno there is­ something about people who have motivation,the more­ people don't appreciate them , the more motivated­ they get to prove themselves, I KNOW ROGER STILL HAS A­ LOT MORE IN STOCK 4 US, U JUST WATCH OUT!.

    From Olucci N, on Tue 23 Jun 9:21AM

  2. It's seems that Eurosport always blames Nadal's­ abscense when Roger wins... let's not forget how­ fantastic a player Roger truely is.

    From christoffercirillo, on Mon 22 Jun 4:16PM

  3. stine there are plenty who will always prefer nadal to­ fed as vice versa, different styles and temperaments­ are what divide the camps and the fact that fed has­ always had problems against nadal the fact that nadal­ came on the scene when fed reached the no1 spot and­ repeatedely made him question who the best tennis­ player out there is. now u r right fed has most of the­ records of longevity and maybe if there is such a thing­ then he is the goat but tennis evolves the generations­ change the guard and nadal is 4 years younger so to­ compare them on their tally of wins is also hard until­ both careers in their entirety have been examined, so­ why dont u cut the people some slack and leave them­ have their opinions as u have yours and stop boring­ people in that i mean u haave made your point very well­ but never cease to repeat it. all the best.

    From ralph, on Mon 22 Jun 2:18PM

  4. Comment 35: Federer cannot be compared with­ Nadal,Federer was world number 1 for 4yrs. And he­ has
    equalled all records..five straight wembledon,five­ staright US open and three straight Australian­ Open.So
    pls bow for Federer and mind you 59career­ titles.Has won all grandslams and still counting.

    From anthony, on Mon 22 Jun 1:27PM

  5. Colin you are clearly on the wrong site. Go back in the­ playground and leave the grown- ups to it.

    From Alison, on Mon 22 Jun 12:58PM

  6. You may not believe it, he_is_ etc
    but that is­ exactly what he said on the sports show on sat morning.­ I don't need to lie. I wouldn't have been the­ ony one to listen that morning. It annoyed me greatly,­ to here him dismiss Andys wins against him in that way.­ Especially as its not true. Not what I would expect of­ a "great player" as I said he is no saint­ and clearly doesn't like Andy.

    From Alison, on Mon 22 Jun 12:55PM

  7. Wimbledon will not be the same without Rafa. I hope he­ recovers soon for another Clah of the Titans!! There­ will never be another final like ROG/RAFA - Venga

    From malcolm, on Mon 22 Jun 12:47PM

  8. Wimbledon will not be the same without Rafa. I hope he­ recovers soon for another Clah of the Titans!! There­ will never be another final like ROG/RAFA - Venga

    From malcolm, on Mon 22 Jun 12:44PM

  9. murray is a scots turd

    From Colin H, on Mon 22 Jun 12:11PM

  10. I really don't believe Fed would say something like­ 'Murray can only beat me because of my back­ problems' ! I recently heard him say in an­ interview that he thinks Murray is a great player with­ good techniques and tactics ! And that he thougt Murray­ would already have broken trough sooner but that he now­ is where he belongs ! So Fed really does have respect­ for him !
    Go Fed, I'll be cheering for you !

    From hn, on Mon 22 Jun 12:11PM

  11. no.41,Rafa is paying the debt of what? Why does he owe­ anything to anybody? Does he owe Roger something just­ because he keeps beating your hero?

    From cero, on Mon 22 Jun 12:09PM

  12. Teapsky, read your comments and ask yourself did­ Federer win the just concluded Roland Garos as number­ one? No he did not he won as number two, he had to slip­ to number two to win what he could not win as a number­ one that is Humility or what do you think? Did he claim­ he is the greatest in any column? No he never said so­ infact he said and I quote my result at the end of my­ career will tell if I am the greatest or not. And for­ you Mr. Alison I can’t remember insulting anyone in my­ column so why tell me to get a life? May the good Lord­ bless you for that and for your information read my­ comment properly and you will find out that I said even­ if he Federer does not win in this year’s Wembly what­ does that mean it means am not saying he cannot be­ beating but even if he is beaten Nadal cannot see­ himself been compared to Federer and as for Murray’s­ fans I sure do wish him the best but you all need to­ pray that he gets to the quarter final because he seems­ to have players like Lleyton Hewitt, Rodrick, and Del­ Potro in his part of the draw so allow him to handle­ those great players before you start talking about him­ beating Federer. And as a Federer fan am also praying­ he does not give us a heart attack we also pray he­ makes it through the first round second and third for­ this are areas where he always meets players that have­ got nothing to loss so they become deadly for him to­ beat but if he can get to the fourth round I know he­ will not be stoppable. So hatters of federer pray he­ does not make it to the fourth round cos if he does two­ of Murray will not be able to stop him and for your­ information the British crowd will disappoint Murray­ when he meets Federer in the Final just take note.

    From stine147, on Mon 22 Jun 11:57AM

  13. The same peasantry on here as the F1 site,always trying­ to discredit someone else instaed of cleaning up the­ shazza in your own backyards...

    From e=mc squared, on Mon 22 Jun 11:57AM

  14. Tim Henman is coming back tofly the flag for­ ENGLAND...
    okay,i adnit,only outside the tearoom­ door..:;

    From e=mc squared, on Mon 22 Jun 11:55AM

  15. 35 teapsky,
    Nicely put.
    ­ No venom,bile or just plain nastyness you get from some­ here.

    From Alison, on Mon 22 Jun 11:46AM

  16. rafa is paying the debt now, soon he gonna be kicked­ off no 1 and Roger will be there where he belongs!

    From aris p, on Mon 22 Jun 11:46AM

  17. Zoltán....

    Brilliant post mate. Its almost as is there­ is not love for Fed anymore. I don't get it.

    From dion.legge, on Mon 22 Jun 11:43AM

  18. noireen never wears her glasses why BB

    From Ciaran, on Mon 22 Jun 11:36AM

  19. noireen never wears her glasses why BB

    From Ciaran, on Mon 22 Jun 11:33AM

  20. I have always praised Nadal and I will always praise­ him, his is a great player, come to think of it is­ there any top 100 tennis player that is not great do­ you Nadal fans think it is easy to qualify to play in a­ Grand Slam, you all need to wake up and respect Federer­ for who he is, players like Agassi, Sampras, Rod and­ Bjorg are great genius in the game of Tennis for them­ to wake up and call Federer the greatest it is because­ they have watched the beauty he brings to the game, it­ is not that they don't respect Nadals game, it is­ just that the techniques is quite different while­ Federer can continue to play for the next 5 years, if­ Nadal is not careful he will be out of the game in 5­ years time, so let’s be frank and be realistic Federer­ is incomparable his playing skills in the court tells­ for itself. Federer is the player that tought Nadal how­ to loss some games in a set so as to disorganize an­ opponent’s way of thinking in the game of play, Federer­ can make you win a set so that you can be so please and­ you will loss your concentration and before you will­ settle back after rejoicing you are down 6/1 in another­ set. That is what I call a Tennis genius, The coup­ planner the executioner of the game of Tennis. The man­ who can loss out of Rome Master to Wawrinker and beat­ Nadal in Madrid so as to destabilize the minds of his­ opponents, a player who keeps you wondering why he just­ lost his own service and while you keep wondering he­ takes your service and beats you and before you know it­ you are both in the locker room exchanging­ pleasantries. FEDERER THE GREATEST OF ALL THE GREAT­ TENNIS GENIUS

    From stine147, on Mon 22 Jun 11:30AM
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