Federer's Quest for Eighth Wimbledon Title
July 4, 2014 Beeyong Sison - After a second round defeat in 2013, Roger Federer will try to bounce back and vie for this year's Wimbledon title for an unprecedented eighth time.
On Friday, Roger Federer reached his ninth Wimbledon final after a solid 6-4 6-4 6-4 triumph over No.8 seed Milos Raonic in one hour and 41 minutes.
With his decent performance in the first half of the season, the No. 4 seed Federer feels healthy again and thinks he has a good chance of adding onto his amazing record of seventeen Grand Slam laurels.
The Swiss Maestro won two ATP Tour titles (Dubai Open in March and Halle last week), three runner-up finishes (in Brisbane, Indian Wells Masters, and Monte Carlo Masters), and a semi-final appearance at the Australian Open.
7-time winner Federer hopes to bounce back from last year's second round loss. Photo wimbledon.com AELTC
“I feel like I’m a contender for the tournament. I feel like if things click here I should be able to win the tournament,” said Federer in an interview by the ATP World Tour.
Federer feels more prepared to compete for the title this year as compared to last year when his game deteriorated due to a back injury.
Last year’s gut-wrenching 6-7 (5) 7-6 (5) 7-5 7-6 (5) defeat to Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky squelched Federer’s streak of getting at least to the quarterfinals at 36 straight Grand Slam tournaments. It was Federer's earliest Grand Slam defeat since May 2003.
“It’s a pleasure being healthy and really fit and eager to give it a go again. This year I feel all the options are there: return, serve, serve and volley, my backhand. Everything is working to my liking. For that reason, I feel I'm a bit more relaxed mentally because I know it is there.
“I think Halle helped me in that I know that things are good on grass. I'm not coming in from a bad grass opener, which would have left more question marks. I think Halle was able to settle things down for me."
Federer captured his seventh Gerry Weber Open title in Halle, Germany just eight days ago picking up his 14th grass-court crown with a 7-6(2), 7-6(3) victory over lefty Alejandro Falla of Colombia. The victory was his No.79 professional career crown.
On Wednesday, Federer got the better of his long-time pal and Davis Cup teammate Stan Wawrinka, the reigning Australian Open champion, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-4 reaching his record 35th Grand Slam semi-final apperance.
In Sunday’s final, Federer will meet top-seeded and 2011 champion Novak Djokovic who returned to his third career final of the Wimbledon Championships after he tamed streaking No. 11 seed Grigor Dimitrov 4, 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(7) on Friday. The 23-year-old Dimitrov appeared in his first Wimbledon semi-final after ousting defending champion Andy Murray in straight sets on Wednesday.
Most Wimbledon Men’s Singles Titles
Most Open Era titles: 7: Pete Sampras, Roger Federer
Most consecutive: titles Amateur Era: 6: William Renshaw
Most consecutive titles Open Era: 5: Björn Borg and Roger Federer
Current champion: Andy Murray
Most Grand Slam Men's Singles Match Wins
Up to July 4 2014
Roger Federer, 1999-2014 274
Jimmy Connors, 1970-1992 233
Andre Agassi, 1986-2006 224
Ivan Lendl, 1978-1994 222
Roy Emerson, 1954-1971 217
Pete Sampras, 1988-2002 203
Rafael Nadal, 2003-2014 184
Stefan Edberg, 1983-1996 178
Ken Rosewall, 1951-1978 171
Novak Djokovic, 2005-2014 168
Meet the "Shortest Male Player to see action @Wimbledon : Pound-for-pound one of the best ever http://t.co/Y9ccXwCOo4 pic.twitter.com/6x2LwS9FAR
— Beejong Sisson (@BeeyongSison) July 4, 2014
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