TENNIS:ROGER FEDERER turned his focus to equalling Pete Sampras' tally of seven Wimbledon titles after pushing Rafael Nadal all the way in the French Open final on Sunday.
The 29-year-old had been written off as a fading force in men’s tennis after going more than a year without reaching a grand slam final but he produced some of the best clay-court tennis of his career at Roland Garros.
His semi-final victory to end Novak Djokovic’s unbeaten start to the season was particularly impressive and he certainly had chances against Nadal before going down 7-5, 7-6 (7/3), 5-7, 6-1.
While clay has always been Federer’s least favourite surface, his attacking game is perfectly suited to grass, and he appears in good shape to regain the trophy he last won in 2009.
He said: “That’s obviously the huge priority right now, to win Wimbledon in a few weeks’ time. That’s always the number one goal in the season. This is where it all started for me back in 2003, or even with (the fourth-round win over) Sampras in 2001. So that’s why I always really enjoy coming back.”
Last year was a difficult one for Federer, who saw his record of reaching at least the semi-finals of 23 consecutive grand slams ended at Roland Garros while he was beaten by Tomas Berdych in the Wimbledon quarter-finals.
Hiring Paul Annacone as coach certainly seemed to make a difference and he had match points to beat Djokovic in the semi-finals of the US Open before ending the year by winning the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Federer felt his results at the French Open had been coming, saying: “I’ve been confident for almost a year now. I think I lost some confidence maybe through the French Open and Wimbledon last year but I was in the finals of Halle during this period so I didn’t feel like I was running after confidence.
“It was important to get to another grand slam final and keep on playing well.
“I’m feeling better physically than I have in a long time, so that’s been very positive.”
Nadal’s victory earned him a 10th grand slam title, putting him joint sixth on the all-time list and only six behind Federer, who is almost five years the Spaniard’s senior.
Federer insisted that is not added pressure, though, claiming he does not worry about his place in history.
He said: “Who cares where you stand? It’s when it’s over and you can’t do anything any longer, that’s when you’re proud of what you accomplished.
“That’s why I’m happy for him that he’s won these grand slams and these tournaments. He can prove to people he can play good tennis. This is what counts. Ten grand slams is a lot. He knows this, I know this, everybody knows this. It’s really good for him.”
Nadal goes into Wimbledon as the defending champion aiming to win back-to-back titles at Roland Garros and the All England Club for the third time.
That Nadal has been so successful during arguably the most demanding period of the tennis season has a lot to do with the respect he has for the changes needed to adapt to life on grass, and it is no different this time.
He said: “I have to work a little bit on grass. It is always a big change. Even if I have had success on grass in recent years, for me it is a big change all the time.
“So I have to adapt my game another time and try to remember what I did well on grass, why I played well on grass, what I have to do to have the same feeling another time.
“That’s hours and hours on a grass court.”
The Spaniard added: “After winning a title like this, you go there with a different attitude, with very good confidence.
“For me, winning here makes me play Queen’s and Wimbledon with less pressure. But not with less motivation.”
ATP WORLD TOUR RANKINGS
(May 23 rd rankings in brackets):
1 (1) Rafa Nadal (Spain) 12070 points
2 (2) Novak Djokovic (Serbia) 12025
3 (3) Roger Federer (Switz) 9230
4 (4) Andy Murray (Britain) 6625
5 (5) Robin Soderling (Sweden) 4595
6 (7) David Ferrer (Spain) 4150
7 (6) Tomas Berdych (Czech Rep) 3490
8 (9) Gael Monfils (France) 2780
9 (10) Mardy Fish (US) 2440
10 (11) Andy Roddick (US) 2200
11 (8) Jurgen Melzer (Austria) 2175
12 (15) Viktor Troicki (Serbia) 1930
13 (16) Richard Gasquet (France) 1925
14 (14) Stanislas Wawrinka (Switz) 1920
15 (12) Nicolas Almagro (Spain) 1875
16 (18) Gilles Simon (France) 1745
WTA RANKINGS
(May 23rd rankings in brackets):
1 (1) Caroline Wozniacki (Den) 9915 points
2 (2) Kim Clijsters (Belgium) 8215
3 (3) Vera Zvonareva (Russia) 7935
4 (7) Li Na (China) 6475
5 (4) Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) 5920
6 (8) Maria Sharapova (Russia) 5221
7 (5) Francesca Schiavone (Italy) 4646
8 (9) Petra Kvitova (Czech Rep) 4018
9 (11) Marion Bartoli (France) 3740
10 (6) Samantha Stosur (Aust) 3405
11 (12) Andrea Petkovic (Germ) 3280
12. (14) Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) 3210
13 (13) Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) 3056
14 (15) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) 3055
15. (10) Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) 3050
16. (18) Julia Goerges (Germany) 2560
