Better With Age: Federer Back At The Top!
Roger Federer won his seventh Wimbledon title, winning his first Grand Slam since more than 2 years, defeating Andy Murray in a tight major final 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.
The Swiss star is now back to being no 1, reclaiming the title from Novak Djokovic. In doing so, Federer will overtake the record of 285 weeks set by Pete Sampras. This win makes it 17 Slam victories, further extending his record total. In terms of longevity, the 30 year old is also the oldest Wimbledon champion since Arthur Ashe in 1975. He continues to compete at the highest level against his closest competitors Nadal and Djokovic who are both nearly 5 years his junior. These feats are further testament to his claim of being the greatest tennis player in history.
As Murray said after the match, “I just lost to one of the greatest athletes of all time. You have to put things in context a little bit.”
After Federer’s’ win he explained, “It has worked out so many times over the years here at Wimbledon that I play my best in the semis and the finals. I couldn’t be happier. It feels great being back here as the winner.”
What was very unique and special about the final is that Britain had been waiting 76 years for a homegrown men’s champion at the All England Club, with very high expectations for Murray to finally break the streak. Inside the stadium, The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, sat in the Royal Box along with David Beckham, British Prime Minister David Cameron and a host of former Wimbledon champions. No doubt many were saddened by Murray’s loss, but no doubt felt no ill feeling towards the man who ended up lifting the trophy.
Throughout his career the Swiss master, effortlessly sublime in victory has always been known for his style and graceful technique in tennis and is the only male player in tennis history to have reached the title match of each Grand Slam tournament at least five times, and is also the only male tennis player in the Open era to have reached the Wimbledon final eight times.
WE SAID THIS: In Jimmy Connors words, former world no 1 tennis players, “In an era of specialists, you’re either a clay court specialist, a grass court specialist, or a hard court specialist…or you’re Roger Federer.”
