I laughed even harder at this Nike commercial which someone posted on YouTube. And it features a cute ___--well, I'm not spoiling things so you better watch it yourself--whom I've never considered cute at all. Federer is ever so much more good-looking. Ha ha ha... [Oh, my mom's gonna kill me for this.]
There was an appropriate epilogue to Federer's latest victory at Wimbledon as he was met after the match by the very man whose Wimbledon record he equaled. The great Bjorn Borg and the current Wimbledon men's champion briefly exchanged words after sharing a "Swedish hug" (whatever that means) as they stood before the board listing men's singles winners in the tournament's entire history. If both Tiger Woods and Federer are the only active athletes who know what it is like to dominate a sport, it is clear that only these two tennis greats know what it feels like to win at Wimbledon five years in a row.
"You were under a lot of pressure," Borg told him.
"You know how it feels," Federer replied.
Borg was quoted to have said after that meeting:
I'm so pleased Roger has equaled my record. He is a great player and he deserves to have achieved this. And I'm happy to have been here to see it.
We could share the feeling of that moment of relief at winning Wimbledon. For both of us, it is one of our favourite places, where we have played so many great matches.
Roger has both feet on the ground and no weaknesses. If he stays away from injuries and still has the motivation, he will be the greatest player ever. It would be nice if he wins it six, seven, eight times.
And as if it wasn't enough that Federer has matched Borg, there are some who went so far as to put the two players head-to-head.
Photo credit: Getty Images
History was made at another Grand Slam final and this time around it was the one Federer--and we Federer fans--dreamed of.
The great Swiss won a record-equaling fifth straight title at Wimbledon after battling with archrival Rafael Nadal in an intense nerve-wracking five-set final, 7-6(7) 4-6 7-6(2) 2-6 6-2.
The match began fittingly with an ace from Federer who went on to pull ahead with a 3-0 lead as a nervous Nadal was broken in his very first service game. However, Nadal stepped up to break back and send the first set into a tiebreak. That tiebreak, won by Federer 9-7, effectually became a preview of the great battle to come.
Both players held serve during the next set before a couple of errors from Federer and a sharply hit passing backhand by Nadal enabled the latter to clinch the set 6-4 on a break of serve and level the match at one set all.
The struggle for supremacy continued into third set and Federer seemed to have gained the upperhand when he won it via another tie-break.
The hope of a four-set victory was erased however come the fourth set when Federer's serve in the opening game was promptly broken. Two games later, a break point earned by Nadal via a HawkEye challenge virtually handed him that set as the visibly irritated four-time defending champion fell behind 0-4. Nadal clearly could smell blood as he managed to close out the set at 6-2 despite an apparent knee injury.
In the deciding set, the end of his glorious reign on grass seemed nigh when Federer 
straight away fell behind 15-40 on his second service game. He managed to fight back to hold serve only to fall behind once again 15-40 on his next service game. This time, the King of Grass' accurate serve came to the rescue as he served two aces to hold serve once again. Then suddenly without warning, he swiftly struck a stunning blow to Nadal in the next game when he broke the Spaniard's serve to go up 4-2 in the final set with a passing forehand that threw up white chalk from the sideline. A visibly stunned Nadal could only basically watch helplessly as another series of unreturnable serves enabled a more confident Federer to easily hold serve for a 5-2 lead. Following that brilliant performance from the top seed, the end to the challenger's attempt to usurp the throne at Wimbledon came in a matter of minutes as Federer went for the jugular. In Nadal's next service game to stay in the match, Federer hit two formidable crosscourt forehands and fired a final smash at the net at his second championship point before crumpling to the ground in a mixture of ecstasy and relief.
On hand to applaud that thrilling and fitting end to a very damp fortnight of tennis was the legendary Swede, Bjorn Borg, whose grand total of 11 grand slam titles was likewise equaled by Federer with this latest victory. Federer also now has won 54 straight matches on grass which includes 34 straight in Wimbledon.
Federer is now within sight of Pete Sampras' record of seven Wimbledon singles titles and total of 14 grand slam titles.
Time to update that Nike advertisement, Tiger!
Photo credits: TOP: Chris Young/AFP/Getty Images; RIGHT: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Federer won his 53rd straight match on grass with relative ease to make it to the finals at the Wimbledon tennis championships for the fifth straight year. He needed only three sets and one hour and three quarters to defeat a match-worn 12th seed Richard Gasquet, 7-6(4) 6-3 6-4. The young but talented Frenchman managed to hold off the four-time champion in the first set until he lost his serve in the 12th game. That crucial break of serve put away all hopes of upsetting the king of grass so that consequently he could no longer keep up the pace with a bad ankle niggling him as Federer wrapped up the match just a little more than an hour later.
Federer now looks to match Bjorn Borg's record of five straight titles at the All England club as he meets last year's finalist Rafael Nadal in what is essentially a rematch of last year's final. Nadal got into his second straight Wimbledon final when an exhausted and injured Novak Djokovic retired from their semifinals match while behind 1-4 in the third set. Djokovic had grabbed the first set 6-3 but like Gasquet struggled after that with an injury (badly blistered little toe in the left foot) that caused him to lose the second set 6-1.
Federer has clearly spent less time on court than Nadal who endured two five-set matches during the tournament. While that will mean he will be fully rested for tomorrow's finals, I hope that the lack of matchplay and the lack of any real challengers in his half of the draw (a great match with either Andy Roddick or Tommy Haas could have provided Federer with ample opportunities to test his game) will not leave him ill-prepared to face a player of Nadal's caliber. But then again Federer is known to step up his game whenever he views the man across the net as a threat.
After waiting overnight to continue yet another rain-delayed match at this year's damp Wimbledon, Federer pulled-off a four set victory (7-6(2) 3-6 6-1 6-3) over Spanish former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero in the quarter-finals.
Federer shook off any rustiness due to his five-day holiday with an ace on his way to hold serve as the two continued their match which was suspended due to rain the day before with the Swiss serving at 40-40, 5-all in the first set. Then although he managed to secure that set via a tiebreak, he lost the second with a series of uncharacteristic errors--no thanks to swirling winds in Centre Court--in the eighth game. But the loss of a set for the very first time in this grand slam tournament this year appeared to have jolted Federer from his holiday hangover as he went on to completely dominate in the third set to take it in just 20 minutes. He refused to let down his guard after that to secure a place in semi-finals for the fifth straight year.
He now faces first-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Richard Gasquet from France who pulled a thrilling five-set upset over third seed Andy Roddick in the other quarterfinal match in the top half of the mens' singles draw.
The world mens' tennis number one was finally sighted on Wimbledon when he made an all-too-brief and tentative appearance in the All England Club's hallowed Centre Court. Fresh from a five-day forced rest, Roger Federer made an emphatic start in his quarterfinals match against former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero when he broke the Spaniard's serve at the very first opportunity to lead 2-0 in the first set. Within a few games after that however, there were signs that Federer's long holiday (courtesy of Tommy Haas' withdrawal from their fourth round match ) had eaten away into his match preparedness when his serve was broken to love as he was serving for the set at 5-3. After Ferrero hung tough in the next game to consolidate the break, Federer was struggling to hold serve at deuce when rain halted play once again at the tournament. Thus after just 37 minutes of play, Federer was seen no more on the tournament's tenth day as play was suspended for rest of the day.
Photo credit: ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images
Federer got a free ticket to the quarter-finals of this year's Wimbledon Championships when his fourth round opponent Tommy Haas withdrew due to a torn abdominal muscle (ouch!). This will allow Federer some rest at least before the quarters which are scheduled (by my reckoning) to be played on Monday or Tuesday. Just hope that lack of matchplay won't make him rusty.
All the hype preceding the highly anticipated "supermatch" between Federer and Marat Safin in the third round of Wimbledon was all for naught as the latter didn't have one of his "crazy good days" as the four-time defending champion had feared.
It took Federer only three sets (6-1 6-4 7-6(4)) to beat the clearly frustrated Safin who took out his anger on his racquets as usual but was surprisingly not issued a warning for doing so by the chair umpire. ("He [the chair umpire] probably knows that he's [Safin] in enough trouble as it is", said the commentator.) The poor racquets most probably cringe in terror while waiting in Safin's bag during every match wondering which among them would be the next victim of an on-court tantrum. The top seed seemed in a hurry once again to get the match over with as he breezed through the first set in just 19 minutes. This, by the way, was slightly less than what it took Jelena Jankovic and Lucie Safarova to complete a tug-of-war game at 3-3 in the second set of their third round match earlier. Safin was however at least successful in breaking Federer's serve in the second game of the second set, only to lose his serve--and a racquet or two--in the next. And he did put up more of a fight in the third which went to a tie-break. But Federer was just too good as he won the tie-break 7-4. Even John McEnroe seemed so impressed by Federer's performance as he commentated the match for BBC that he hinted at taking back the remarks he made during his acceptance speech at the recent ITF awards:
"I'm not sure Federer has to win the French Open to be considered the best of all time. His class is undoubted in the modern game and, anyway, with the amount of time he has on his side, who's to say just how many titles he might go on to win...
Sheer, sheer quality from Federer, who was really tested in that final set but still came through. He's favourite for another title here for a reason, and tonight he showed us why."
Amen!
Number one seed Federer continued his relentless march toward a fifth-straight Wimbledon Men's Singles title as he overcame 18-year-old Juan Martin del Potro 6-2 7-5 6-1 in the second round. In another rain-delayed match, Federer grabbed the first two sets and was leading 2-0 in the third when rain came down once again to disrupt proceedings at the All England Lawn Tennis club. After play was eventually suspended three hours later for the rest of the day, a ruthless Federer returned to court on day four to win the third set in just 11 minutes (for a total of 93 minutes match time--one minute longer than it took him to win his match against Gabashvili),and his 50th consecutive match on grass.
The dangerous but unpredictable Marat Safin will be Federer's opponent in the third round. The former world number one had denied Federer the 2005 Australian Open title by edging him in the semifinals in what many consider a classic five-set match. He also proved a challenge in their last match on grass in Halle in 2005 where Federer needed three sets to win. But grass is apparently Safins' weakest and most hated surface--if we are to recall his memorably bitter "grass is for cows" comment when he lost in the first round a few years ago. So unless Safin suddenly musters the brilliant form that he had two years ago, he would most likely at best grab a set from Federer in their upcoming and highly anticipated match.
Federer eased past Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili in straight sets 6-3 6-2 6-4 as he opened the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, England. Play at the All England Lawn Tennis club was actually delayed for nearly two hours due to rain but once play commenced Federer got down to business immediately by wrapping up his first-round match in a mere 92 minutes.
This was his 49th straight victory on grass and his commanding performance pushed aside fears that skipping the Gerry Weber Open at Halle had jeopardized his chances of winning a fifth straight title here at Wimbledon.
Although Federer was clearly back to his winning ways on his favorite surface, things were slightly different this season at SW19. For one, Centre Court was missing its roof making for a brighter but more blustery conditions on court that Federer with his delicate but deadly artistry had to deal with. Hawkeye was making its first appearance at Wimbledon as well and Federer used it to his advantage by challenging a couple of calls and showing that he was correct both times.
Then there was Federer himself who on the verge of making history by tying Bjorn Borg's record at Wimbledon looked dressed for the part by showing up on court in a new suit designed by Nike: a white customized dinner-style jacket with a gold crest on the breast pocket and retro long white trousers. He even wore a light vest emblazoned with the same gold crest for the early part of the match.
It's Wimbledon season once again, as humorously observed by Matthew Pritchett in his cartoons for the Telegraph below, and, like any other Federer fan, I'm all excited!
 |  |
World tennis number one and four-time Wimbledon men's champion Roger Federer opens his campaign for a record-tying fifth straight Wimbledon crown tomorrow, 25 June, when he opens the prestigious tennis tournament with a match against Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili. The match is scheduled to start at 1:00pm, London time.
According to the men's single draw, Federer may next meet another Russian, the 26th seed Marat Safin, in the third round. Also in Federer's quarter of the draw is Australian Open finalist, Fernando Gonzales, who if I recall correctly, gave Federer quite a challenge in the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2005. It is also possible that Federer will face this year's Queens champion and two-time Wimbledon finalist, Andy Roddick, in the semifinals. Other potential opponents of Federer at that stage of the tournament are Queens runner-up and surprise finalist, Nicolas Mahut (the played a brave match against Federer last year, by the way); Ordina Open title-holder Ivan Ljubicic and British hope Andy Murray.
Sounds like a pretty tough draw to me. I can only hope and pray Federer does well and will be able to defend his title. I'm a little anxious since he didn't have the opportunity to warm-up at the Gerry Weber Open at Halle this time around which means he lacks some matchplay. On the other hand, grass is his favourite surface and Federer seems determined and confident about his form and about switching from clay to grass after a good rest. Why, he has even admitted that he's got his eye on Sampras' record of seven Wimbledon crowns!
|
|
