Roger Federer is yet to drop a set in this year’s Wimbledon. (Source: AP)
Roger Federer’s name was one that kept cropping up whenever there were discussions of great sportspersons who have lost their touch or should have retired ‘a long time back’ in 2016. That was when he was out of the game for six long months following a knee surgery that would keep him out for the rest of the year. It was when he dropped out of the top-10 of the ATP rankings since 2002, something that would be unthinkable when he was at his peak.
Little did we know that the best is yet to come from the Swiss Maestro. If 2016 was the year when Federer was anonymous on the ATP tour, 2017 is a reminder as to what made him the best on it. Come Sunday and Federer would be walking out to Centre Court at the All England Club vying for his second Grand Slam title of the year.
Roger Federer entered Wimbledon 2017 after giving the clay-court season a miss. He had himself admitted that he would be doing so as to remain fit for the grass-court season. His first match was a bit of a disappointment as Alexandr Dolgopolov retired midway through the second set. He then beat Dusan Lajovic 7-6 (0), 6-3, 6-2 before seeing off Mischa Zverev 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-4. His opponent in the Round of 16 was Grigor Dimitrov and Federer yet again went through without dropping a set. Canada’s Milos Raonic was up next and Federer was once again clinical in a 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (4) win. Federer’s next opponent was Tomas Berdych who had ended on the winning side of his quarter final against a wobbling Novak Djokovic. While he was pushed, Federer didn’t drop a set yet again. Berdych, four years and 28 Grand Slam finals younger than Federer, looked depleted towards the end of the contest and the latter won 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-4.
