Fed Express fuelled up to be It’s charge of the Magnificent Five supreme King of the Courts for London prize

TWELVE months after shutting down his season in the wake of a devastating semifinal defeat, Roger Federer returns to Wimbledon as favourite to capture a record-breaking eighth title and become the tournament’s oldest champion.

The evergreen Swiss superstar, who turns 36 in August, has stunned the critics who wrote him off as yesterday’s man when he went down to Milos Raonic in five gruelling sets on Centre Court in 2016.

The loss forced him off tour for the remainder of the year to rest a knee injury, leaving his Grand Slam title count on 17 where it had been since 2012.

Fast forward a year and Federer is poised to break the tie for seven Wimbledon titles he shares with Pete Sampras and take his career tally at the majors to 19.

With eternal rivals Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in slumps of varying lengths and degrees of seriousness, and Rafael Nadal fretting over whether or not his knees will bear the stress of grass courts, it is Federer in the box seat.

Federer, who captured a fifth Australian Open in January, will go into Wimbledon buoyed by a ninth title on the grass of Halle.

His final demolition of Alexander Zverev, 15 years his junior and a player seen as his natural heir, came just a week after he marked his return from a 10-week break by losing in the first round in Stuttgart.

It was his first defeat in an opening round on his favourite surface since his shock loss to Mario Ancic at Wimbledon in 2002.

However, Federer believes his Stuttgart setback came at the right time ahead of Wimbledon.

“I was doubting myself a little bit, I must admit, because losing in the opening round for the first time in 15 years on grass was always going to shake me a little bit and it did,” said Federer who has lost just two matches all year.

“So I’m happy to react right away and remind myself I actually can play well on grass.” For tennis storylines of 2017, Federer shares top billing with Nadal after the Spaniard defied the doubters to win a 10th French Open.

That took him to 15 Grand Slam titles, one ahead of Sampras and just three behind Federer.

But for Nadal, Wimbledon has always been bittersweet.

He was champion in 2008 – where he beat Federer in a final widely regarded as the greatest ever played – and 2010 as well as finishing runner-up in 2006, 2007 and 2011.

Injury forced him to skip Wimbledon in 2009 and 2016 while the years 2012-2015 saw him lose to Lukas Rosol (world ranked 100), Steve Darcis (135), Nick Kyrgios (144) and Dustin Brown (102).

A fourth round run in 2014 represents his best recent effort.

Nadal admits that if he suffers a new problem with his knees on the Wimbledon grass, where the lower bounce of the ball piles more pressure on the legs and joints, then his visit to London may again be short-lived.

Defending champion Murray is fresh off a first round exit at Queen’s at the hands of Australian world number 90 Jordan Thompson.

The world number one, who was also Wimbledon champion in 2013, has failed to get past the second round in three of his last four tournaments.

Short of grasscourt exposure, Murray headed to the Hurlingham Club in west London for an exhibition tournament.

Equally desperate for game time is Djokovic, 30, the three-time Wimbledon champion who travelled to Eastbourne hoping the sea air might breathe life into a career which is in freefall.

The Serb was on top of the world just over 12 months ago when he arrived at Wimbledon with all four Grand Slams in his possession.

However, a third round loss to Sam Querrey set him on a slide which has been more or less constant ever since.

His ranking has slipped from one to four and he’s parted with coaches Boris Becker and Marian Vajda.

The jury is still out on his decision to hire André Agassi while his quarterfinal loss at Roland Garros to Dominic Thiem was his first in straight sets at the majors in four years.

The 6-0 ‘bagel’ handed to him in the third set by the young Austrian was the first time he had suffered such an indignity in 12 years.

“All top players go through this. I have to get through it and come back stronger. It’s a big challenge but I am up for it,” said Djokovic. — AFP FIVE contenders for the men’s title at Wimbledon which gets under way at the All England Club on Monday: ROGER FEDERER (Switzerland) Age: 35 World ranking: 5 Career titles: 92 Career Grand Slam titles: 18 (Australian Open 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2017; French Open 2009; Wimbledon 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012; US Open 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) Career earnings: R1.3-billion Best Wimbledon performance: Champion 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Rejuvenated by his fifth Australian Open title in January as well as back-to-back Masters at Indian Wells and Miami, Federer is favourite for a record-setting eighth Wimbledon title which would make him the oldest man to lift the trophy. Goes into Wimbledon on the back of a ninth Halle trophy and a win-loss record in 2017 of 24-2. ANDY MURRAY (Britain) Age: 30 World ranking: 1 Career titles: 45 Career Grand Slam titles: 3 (Wimbledon 2013, 2016); US Open 2012) Career earnings: R786-million Best Wimbledon performance: Champion 2013, 2016

Famously ended Britain’s 77-year wait for a Wimbledon men’s champion in 2013. His Slam collection has been augmented by two Olympic golds and a knighthood from the queen. But has struggled this year and was deposed as Queen’s Club champion in the first round by world number 90 Jordan Thompson of Australia. RAFAEL NADAL (Spain) Age: 31 World ranking: 2 Career titles: 73 Career Grand Slam titles: 15 (Australian Open 2009; French Open 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017; Wimbledon 2008, 2010; US Open 2010, 2013) Career earnings: R1.1-billion Best Wimbledon performance: Champion 2008, 2010

Fresh from his record-setting 10th French Open title, Nadal will be Federer’s dangerman at Wimbledon – if his knees hold out. The Spaniard adores the challenge of playing on grass but in recent years has suffered four losses to opponents ranked outside the top 100. NOVAK DJOKOVIC (Serbia) Age: 30 World ranking: 4 Career titles: 67 Career Grand Slam titles: 12 (Australian Open 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016; French Open 2016; Wimbledon 2011, 2014, 2015; US Open 2011, 2015)

Career earnings: R1.4-billion Best Wimbledon performance: Champion 2011, 2014, 2015

Djokovic heads to Wimbledon at a crossroads with his career in a tailspin, just 12 months after he held all four majors and seemed to have the world at his feet. He admits motivation has been a problem since he completed the Grand Slam in Paris in 2016. NICK KYRGIOS (Australia) Age: 22 World ranking: 20 Career titles: 3 Career Grand Slam titles: 0 Career earnings: R58-million Best Wimbledon performance: Quarterfinal 2014

Announced himself as a player for the big stage by reaching the last eight at Wimbledon on debut in 2014. Ranked 144 in the world at the time, Kyrgios defeated then number one Nadal in the fourth round. Dogged by controversy and inconsistency, he was accused of tanking in his defeat to Richard Gasquet in 2015. On his day, however, possesses the weapons to worry the very best on grass. —