That was in Halle just before Wimbledon and he was taken to three sets in the semis and final by Tommy Haas (Haas is 35-year-old and has a career record against Federer of 4-13) and Mikhail Youzhny. This year, there have been starker signs of Federer’s decline. Including Federer’s win at Wimbleon in 2012, players past their 30th birthday have won a a Grand Slam just 18 times in the Open era (Ken Rosewall won four Grand Slam titles after the age of 33 but he is the exception that proves the rule). The last ball Sampras struck in anger may have come in a victorious US Open final but a few months before that Sampras was unceremoniously dispatched from Wimbledon by 145th ranked journeyman George Bastl in the second round. Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl won their last Grand Slams at 29. John McEnroe won his last Grand Slam title at 25. And there are always younger, fitter hungrier players to contend with. The pounding the players bodies take on the courts, the unending adjustments from hard courts to clay to grass and back to hard courts and the sheer volume of tournaments takes its toll. Tennis players and the big 3-0 don’t get along very well. You're saying, 'am I about to beat him? Is it possible?'" When you're beating one, you still have the other one who is pressing you. First you play Roger Federer and then you play his ego. “When you play Roger Federer at Wimbledon, it's like you're playing two persons. “I can’t explain because I’m not feeling it yet. “I’m still lost, he said after the match. Kate Middleton steals a point in a tennis match against Roger Federer at Wimbledon Wimbledon 2023: Roger Federer receives rousing reception on Centre Court watch videoĮven Stakhovsy, the newest giant killer in town, couldn’t believe what he had just pulled off.
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