I’M STILL CENTRE OF ATTENTION
Fed fires a cheeky volley at World Cup final claiming: They should be more worried in Russia about me
ROGER FEDERER admitted he still amazes himself after dropping only five points in his ridiculous 16-minute opening set yesterday.
And the Swiss superstar then joked Sunday’s men’s singles final will overshadow the World Cup Final – especially if he has a starring role.
The defending champion has now won 32 consecutive sets at Wimbledon after beating Adriano Mannarino 6-0 7-5 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals for the 16th time.
But Federer has never played a one-sided set like his opener yesterday – and the world No.26 won three of his five points in the final game.
Mannarino compared Federer to Picasso before the match and it all got a bit surreal as even the Swiss-adoring Centre Court crowd cheered on the Frenchman to put on an exhibition.
World No.2 Federer, who turns 37 next month, said: “I told my team the other day that for me also, after all these years, it is surprising to be the No.1 seed, in the top-two rankings at 36.
“I didn’t think that was ever going to happen, to be honest.
“That has been the surprise for me, that sometimes there is a set like this against a player who is not the biggest server. It can happen.
“Then he showed that he is top 30 after all, he played two good sets after that.
“But I was also surprised that first set was that fast, especially 16 minutes. That was too fast. Shouldn’t really happen, but thankfully they do for me. I probably won’t have another 6-0 set this week, so I’ll enjoy this one.”
Federer has not dropped a set since losing the semi-final in 2016 – and is two sets short of the record he set in 2005 and 2006.
And he remains on collision course to meet Rafa Nadal (left) in a rematch of their 2008 final after the Spaniard reached the last eight for the first time since 2011.
The world No.1 has also yet to drop a set after beating Jiri Vesely 6-3 6-3 6-4.
With the men’s final starting at 2pm on Sunday and World Cup Final at 4pm, Wimbledon will rip up their own rulebook and allow fans to watch the football on their smartphones on Centre Court. Federer joked: “I’m more concerned the World Cup Final will have issues because the Wimbledon final is going on. They’ll hear every point, ‘Wow, Love-15, 15-30’.
“The players are going to look up in the crowd and not understand what’s going on at Wimbledon! That’s how important Wimbledon is to me and to us over here.
“Maybe you should ask the questions over in Russia. How they’re going to feel about Wimbledon being played at the same time!”
Chief executive Richard Lewis said: “Centre Court will be packed for the men’s single final, and I’m sure people will be able to follow the World Cup Final because of modern technology.
“Our attitude is if people aren’t affecting other people’s enjoyment, by listening in with an earphone or whatever, that’s fine.”