RF Tennis News 2017

Roger Federer commits to Hopman Cup to start 2018 season


ESPN - 27 June, 2017

Associated Press

PERTH, Australia -- Roger Federer has committed to starting the 2018 season at the Hopman Cup, the international mixed-team tournament in which he'll again team up with Belinda Bencic for Switzerland.

The 35-year-old Federer has cut back on the number of tournaments he plays in order to prolong his career, and he skipped the recent clay-court season to concentrate on Wimbledon.

Roger Federer has committed to starting the 2018 season at the Hopman Cup. Lars Baron/Bongarts/Getty Images

He played with Bencic at the last Hopman Cup, and it proved an ideal tuneup for the Australian Open, in which he beat Rafael Nadal in the final to end a personal Grand Slam drought stretching to Wimbledon in 2012.

"It was the perfect preparation because I was in a good mindset," Federer said of the buildup to his 18th major title. "When I went to Melbourne, I could really look back on some great preparation, and I think that's what also made me win the Australian Open."

The French team of Kristina Mladenovic and Richard Gasquet beat Federer and Bencic to seal a spot in last year's Hopman Cup final, then beat U.S. pair CoCo Vandeweghe and Jack Sock to win the title.

More than 6,000 people attended Federer's first practice session last year in Perth, a crowd he described as "surreal." The Switzerland-France match attracted a tournament-record 13,917 fans.

Aprilpoon wrote:I also heard this on our radio! Now I have to make the tough decision to go to Perth or Melbourne as a Sydneysider. Maybe I should write down and pros and cons and ask you guys to help me decide?

Federer: “Murray better not to play in Wimbledon if..”




29-Jun-17 - Alex Boyden 
TennisTonic
 

Roger has his own view about what Andy should do ahead of Wimbledon
 
Andy Murray is keen on defending his Wimbledon title, but recently he has been struggling with his hip to call off two warm-up matches. 

Roger Federer is definitely an expert in managing schedules, especially when battling with fitness. The Swiss Legend has decided not to play the entire clay court season to arrive fresh to the second part of the year, and that has already paid dividends after Roger won his 9th title in Halle and he is now tipped to be the favorite to win Wimbledon.

During a recent interview, Roger shared his opinion about Andy playing The Championships. The Maestro commented

"I think he would need to feel like he could play for 14 days or seven matches. If you feel you can only play one match, I don’t think then it’s good enough to play the tournament. Because going over the best of five sets, over two weeks, only the tough ones will survive.

You need to feel confident in your body at some stage, otherwise, what’s the point? To put yourself out there just to be out there? Andy’s had too much success to do that.

The world’s watching because it’s the defending champion, opening the court, it’s a big deal. Because it’s a big deal you feel like you want to be at 100 per cent, or at least as close to 100 per cent as you can be.”

So… 100% or nothing. Probably Roger is right, isn’t he?

INJURED Murray pulls out from second warm-up match before Wimbledon


28-Jun-17 - Alex Boyden
TennisTonic


Andy is still not willing to risk a warm-up match before The Championships

Andy Murray should not be in his best mood right now.

The world no.1 aims at defending his Wimbledon title, but he is marred with a hip injury. Andy has already declined to play his first warm-up match in Hurlingham (vs. Lucas Pouille) to withdraw also from the second one.

The statement

Andy released the following statement:
“Sadly I won’t be ready to play at The Hurlingham tomorrow. My hip is still sore and I need to rest it today, and likely tomorrow.”

Andy’s team is confident he will be ready on Monday to play The Championships even if he is not expected to be at his very best.

NOT LOOKING GREAT     


Andy Murray (GBR) on the Centre Court of AEGON Championships at Queen's Club, London, on June 20, 2017.
GettyImages

Saturday, 1 July 2017 11:21 AM BST


Mouratoglou: Federer's an inspiration

Serena Williams' coach discusses the motivation and inspiration behind two of the game's greatest players

By Mark Hodgkinson

There are seven good reasons - all of them green and purple - why Roger Federer and Serena Williams should have a connection. And why Williams' coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, should say that the two champions inspire each other to greater heights. After all, seven is the number of times that each of them have won the Wimbledon title.


 


But there are actually plenty more reasons why the two should feel that kinship. Federer is arguably the greatest men's player of all time, while Williams is the alpha female across all generations of women's tennis. Both will turn 36 soon (Federer in August, Williams in September) and both have dealt with suggestions over the years that they were no longer Grand Slam-winning forces.

Federer's triumph at this year's Australian Open was his first major for five years, taking him to a record 18 Grand Slams, and he is many people's favourite to also come through the Wimbledon draw. Williams isn't here at the All England Club, as she is seven months pregnant, but if she had been able to compete she would have been favoured to add to her collection of Grand Slams, which stands at 23 after her run at Melbourne Park in January.

"I think maybe Roger was inspired by the fact Serena came back and was able to dominate, even when she was in her 30s and also when she had that time when she didn't win a Grand Slam for some years. I know that Serena is inspired by Roger," Mouratoglou told Wimbledon.com.

"You have to look up at people if you want to improve, as it's always interesting to look at players who play better than you do. Serena can't do that as she's the best player in the world, but if she looks at men's tennis she can. She's always watching Roger, as well as some of the other men. Sometimes she comes to me and says, 'Look, I've got to show you something that Roger does, can I also do that?' And that's because she wants to improve. Roger can always be an inspiration. Often she watches Roger and she likes what he is doing. Sometimes she'll say to me, 'I would like to work on that, because that's amazing'. Of course, she is inspired."

In Mouratoglou's analysis, Federer's resurgence has come through three years of adjustments to his game.

"Of course, Roger's the most talented player in history. There's no doubt about that
and when you watch him play it's like a symphony. He's just magic."
- Patrick Mouratoglou

"Roger has worked on a plan for the last three years, which is paying off now. I know people are saying that he stopped for six months last year after Wimbledon, and it was in that time that all the improvements came. No, for the last three years he has been working on his game so it fits with modern tennis. With the type of game he was playing before, he wouldn't now win a Grand Slam again. He had to make little changes to his game that make a huge difference," observed the Frenchman, whose book, 'The Coach', has been translated into English.

"Roger now returns with a flat backhand - he used to slice with his backhand all the time, and that allowed his opponent to start dictating. He's not doing that any more. He's much more aggressive now. He's coming to the net a lot. He's serve-and-volleying. He's sometimes hitting a return and charging into net. He worked on his backhand so he can take the ball earlier than before. That's a big change from before. The ball is faster. There's less topspin," said Mouratoglou.

"So he's been doing this for three years and he's been doing it for every single match. He has pushed himself to do that. And eventually it all came together, and now he's able to beat all those guys."

Watching Federer on Centre Court, it's easy to imagine that everything comes naturally to the Swiss. And yet, as Mouratoglou noted, "talent without hard work is nothing". "Of course, Roger's the most talented player in history. There's no doubt about that and when you watch him play it's like a symphony. He's just magic. Until I die, I won't see another player who plays tennis like Roger, I just know. And probably the next generation won't see someone else like him either. He's just perfection," Mouratoglou said.

"But Roger was getting older, and he was facing players who didn't miss and who were making him play longer rallies. So he knew that if didn't make those changes in his game, he would have very few chances to win a Grand Slam again. It was very courageous to do that, to make those changes, and that's why champions are champions. They are always trying to improve."

While Williams won't be at Wimbledon, you can be sure she will be watching Federer's matches on television. Also be in no doubt that Federer's tennis will be inspiring the mother-to-be as she plots her return to competition.

Wimbledon 2017: Roger Federer & Novak Djokovic through after opponents quit


By Piers Newbery
BBC Sport at Wimbledon



Martin Klizan retired in the second set of his match against Novak Djokovic.


Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic said Wimbledon should consider rule changes after both their first-round opponents retired with injuries.

Third seed Federer led 6-3 3-0 when Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov quit with an ankle injury after 43 minutes.

Second seed Djokovic progressed after a calf injury saw Martin Klizan pull out at 6-2 2-0 down on 40 minutes.

"We had a joke in the locker room saying we should maybe play a practice set on Centre Court," said Djokovic.

Both Klizan and Dolgopolov have struggled with injuries recently and their retirements made it five over the course of two days at the Championships.

The men's tour, the ATP, introduced a rule at the start of 2017 that means a player can retire before a first-round match and retain their prize money.

A lucky loser then gets the place and money earned from qualifying, plus any further prize money accrued from the second round onwards.

The rule is not in place at the four Grand Slam tournaments.

"Maybe it should be addressed," said Djokovic.

"I think the new rule that the ATP has reinforced allows players who deserve already, who have made it to the Grand Slam main draw, to get what they deserve, but at the other hand allow someone else to play if they can.

"I support that kind of rule."

First-round losers at Wimbledon earn £35,000 this year, potentially encouraging players to take to the court when they know they are not fit enough to compete.

"The question always is, should they have started the match at all?" said Federer.

"That, only the player can answer really, in my opinion. You hope that they would give up their spot for somebody else, even though they deserve to be in there, but fitness not allowing them.

"Maybe the Grand Slams should adopt some of [the ATP rule], then maybe we would eliminate maybe half of the players [who retire]," said Federer.

"Some of them, maybe something really did happen. Now you're thrown in the same basket, so that's rough."


It's not a good look for our sport - McEnroe

Klizan suffered a recurrence of a calf injury that forced him out of tournaments in Rome and Geneva in May, and a groan went around Centre Court when, less than an hour later, Dolgopolov also failed to complete two sets.



Federer and Dolgopolov were on court for just 43 minutes


The 15,000 spectators were at least cheered by the news that former world number one Caroline Wozniacki and Timea Babos would make a surprise appearance on Centre Court to bolster the schedule.

Three-time champion John McEnroe said on BBC Sport: "I do think when you saw Klizan he clearly wasn't ready or able to play from the very beginning.

"They've got to figure out some kind of rule change where, I suggest, they give him half the first-round prize money and bring someone else in who is at least fit and can go out 110%.

"It's not a good look for our sport when you have to sit and watch that on Centre Court.

"For someone like Klizan, that £35,000 [first-round prize money] really matters and he's reluctant to give that up.

"That's where you need to get the powers-that-be at Wimbledon, the ATP, all the people involved in our sport, even a coach to speak to Martin and make him understand that in the best interests of the sport, and for himself - he's risking a worse injury.

"This isn't something that just cropped up, he's had issues with this for a few months, so he's got to get this sorted out."

Roger Federer: 'There were moments I wanted
to walk away from tennis'


By Henry Young, CNN - July 4, 2017

(CNN) — There have been times even Roger Federer has thought of walking away from it all.

A stage before his name was immortalized and the records fell; a period in his glittering career when defeat was more common than victory.

"It was tough," Federer tells CNN Sport, reflecting on his early years on the ATP Tour.

"When I traveled internationally I would get beat up very often in the first round 6-2, 6-3. You go home and realize: 'Okay, you're good in Basel but you're not very good in the world.'"





Federer knew he had a bright future — a junior Wimbledon title at the age of 16 proved that — but it took him three years to win his first ATP final.

As a boy he would often cry if he lost a match, hiding behind the umpire's chair. As he entered his adolescence, that sensitivity occasionally took the form of petulance.

"When I was 12 years old, I was just horrible," Federer admitted in a 2003 interview with the Telegraph.

Onlooking parents were banished and told to "go and have a drink." Rackets, on more than one occasion, were smashed.

Federer, urbane idol to millions around the world, even walked away from one professional tournament on the Swiss circuit having made a financial loss, after the referee deemed he had violated the "best effort" ruling.

It took time to master his emotions and reach the state of tranquility he emanates on court today. It also required sacrifice, with Federer having to decide between football and tennis as a teen.

Now the 35-year-old is the world's fourth highest paid athlete, and through to the Wimbledon second round after the retirement of his opponent Alexandr Dolgopolov, perhaps the only doubt concerning him is whether he can to add to his 18 grand slam titles.

Asked by CNN Sport earlier this year what separates the great from the good, he takes a second to consider.

"His aura, his longevity," Federer replies. "What did he bring to his sport? Did he change the sport forever? What was his impact?

"Popularity, style ... Was he a good role model? I think all of these things matter."





Boy to man

His talent has never been in doubt.

After emerging victorious in both the singles and the doubles on the 1998 junior circuit at the All England Club, Federer reached the final of the junior US Open and won Florida's Orange Bowl Championship — joining a prestigious group of former champions including Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe and Björn Borg.

"I went from boy to man a little bit," he says. "My body grew ... I realized I could serve big [and] all of a sudden hang with tour players.

"I knew there was nobody better than the tour players; that's when the dream became a reality.



A teenage Federer is pictured relaxing on a beach in Key Bicayne, Florida.


"Who knows," the young man thought, "maybe I could become top 100 in the world at one point?"

Fittingly enough the Bernese Alps were the scene of his first ever ATP tournament, with Federer traveling to the clay-court Swiss Open in Gstaad.

The No. 702 bowed out in the first round in straight sets, but he wouldn't have to wait long before his first breakthrough.


September 30, 1998: The day the best male tennis player of all time secured the first of over 1,000 career match victories on the ATP tour, beating world No. 45 Guillame Raoux at the Toulouse Open.

Federer went on to reach the quarterfinals in what was just his second ever ATP tournament, losing to the eventual winner, Jan Siemerink.

It moved him up over 400 places in the world rankings, and secured a wildcard spot at the upcoming Swiss Indoors — a tournament he'd been a ballboy at just four years before.

There he faced none other than eight-time grand slam winner Andre Agassi in the first round — a brush with the big boys that lasted less than an hour.



Roger Federer 18 Grand Slams


The Federer decade

At the turn of the millennium, Federer was the youngest man in the top 100 and the tennis world was sitting up and taking notice.

"I was nervous," Federer says, admitting it was still a novelty trading shots with established stars.

"I'd always wanted to be in that position ... playing against the guys you knew from TV, it was super cool."

The carpets of the Milan Indoors were the scene of Federer's first ever ATP trophy in February 2001, but the watershed moment of his early career occurred five months later at Wimbledon.



The king of Wimbledon, Pete Sampras, is dethroned.


Pete Sampras vs. Federer. The king vs. the young pretender. The first and only time the boy from Basel would ever play against his idol. A changing of the guard.

Coming into the fourth round clash, Sampras had more grand slam singles titles than any man in history, and hadn't lost a single match at the All England Club for five years -- only failing to win the prestigious tournament once between 1993 and 2000.

He left quietly, dethroned by a teenager.

"There are a lot of young guys coming up," Sampras reflected, "but Roger is a bit extra special."

Federer himself puts his success down to "drive" as much as transcendental talent.

For while the young Swiss was knocked out by home favorite Tim Henman in the 2001 quarterfinal, and stung by Croatian grand slam debutant Mario Ancic in the Wimbledon first round a year later, he's been returning to Centre Court ever since like he owned the place.





"When you're young, it's very important to have that drive — even when you're defeated — to go back and hit up against a wall or a cupboard like I did," Federer says.

"You do maybe take the hammer and the nail and put the racket up against a wall and say I'm going to walk away from it all ... but five minutes later you're going to pick it up again and you're going to play again. Hard work is key. Probably more than 50% of success at that point."

After that shock defeat to Ancic, ranked No. 158 at the time, Federer didn't lose again on grass for six years.

From July 2003 to September 2007, the game's undisputed star won 12 of the 18 Grand Slam titles on offer, sweeping aside all before him in Melbourne, London and New York.

An Olympic gold medal followed in Beijing, but one final frontier still eluded him: Roland Garros.


The career grand slam

Clay was the domain of another man, Rafa Nadal, and between 2006 and 2008 Federer had fallen to the Spaniard in three consecutive finals.

June 7, 2009: The day Federer finally lifted La Coupe des Mousquetaires, beating Sweden's Robin Soderling to equal Sampras's major record (14) and complete the coveted career grand slam.

Federer called it his "greatest victory," breaking down in tears before a packed crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier, telling them "now I can play in peace for the rest of my career."


Roger Federer kisses the French Open trophy, having beaten Sweden's Robin Söderling (6-1, 7-6, 6-4) to complete the career grand slam.

Detractors had questioned his desire, asking whether this elegant artisan was really up for the long slog on clay.

But Federer sat down with CNN Sport that day with the proof in his hands.

"I always believed that I was good enough to get it," he said, "but actually holding this trophy after all that I've been through is an unbelievable feeling."

"This victory comes at the right time because I've proved many people wrong."

Asked what was left to motivate him after reaching the pinnacle of his sport, Federer alluded to his first ever Wimbledon victory.

"It was all I ever wanted," he smiled. "But I kept coming back and won it again and again and again."

"That's what champions want to do: they want to come back and prove themselves over and again.

"I love the game too much to walk away from it; it's given me all I ever wanted."


A rivalry revisited

If Martina Navratilova had echoed the prevailing sentiment in 2009 when she said the newly-crowned French Open champion could now "just go on and sip Margaritas for the rest of his life," Federer himself had no intention of letting up.

His 2017 Australian Open final win against Rafa Nadal was a triumph of longevity — his first major title for five years and one that and that made him the oldest male grand slam winner since Roy Emerson in 1967.

"It's really strange to me," the 35-year-old told CNN Sport in January, having expected to reach "a fourth round or a quarterfinal" at best.





"The first time I actually believed I could win the title was maybe Saturday or Sunday morning; I just started seeing flashes of me with the trophy."

Had Federer not fought back from 3-1 down in the fifth set — beating his friend and long-time nemesis in a major final for the first time in ten years — Nadal could have closed the all-time gap between them to just two grand slams with his favored French Open to follow.

Now though Federer's tally of 18 looks unlikely to be beaten.