No big deal for Federer
RAVISHING Roger Federer is looking better than ever according to his fans. And he should be, with a new £250 million kit deal draped across his elegant shoulders.
Yesterday on Centre Court the great Swiss, aiming for his ninth Wimbledon title, barely moistened his new outfit with a drop of sweat as he swept past Dusan Lajovic 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 to open the defence of his title.
Told by a fawning journalist the day before that he looked more handsome than ever, Federer joked that he felt sexy. Too sexy for his new multimillion-pound shirt? Not on this evidence.
Federer was his usual imperious self as the champion disposed of the world No 57 in just 79 minutes.
“I’m happy to be back at Wimbledon,” he said. “I was really able to enjoy the match out there because I got off to a good start in set one and two. I felt very good.”
The top players on the circuit are inundated with sponsorship offers for shirts, shoes, shorts, headbands – you name it – worth millions in the very elite cases.
It is not the same lower down the order. Ask the likes of British hopeful Liam Broady, beaten on No 1 Court yesterday, who talked not so long ago about sleeping on his mates’ couches to get by.
There were no fewer than three questions out of seven in Federer’s post-match press conference yesterday about his new clobber. And naturally he was happy to talk about it.
So yes, Federer, who will face Lukas Lacko of Slovakia in the second round, may have felt comfy in his new gear, but he admitted that there were tremors at first yesterday.
“I was nervous in the warmup, but when the match started, REPORTS I felt the nerves settled,” he said. “I returned well quickly, I felt my legs were moving. That’s what gave me the confidence to quickly see what I needed to do.”
This is Federer’s 20th consecutive appearance in the main draw at Wimbledon, the first male player to achieve that. He was utterly dominant against the Serb, winning 93 per cent of his first-serve points.
Lajovic, below, won only 12 points as Federer claimed the first set in just 21 minutes, and although he improved, he was not allowed a single chance to threaten the Federer serve. As starts go it was immaculate.
His eight-yearold twin daughters Myla and Charlene and twin sons Lenny and Leo were all in his box with their mum Mirka to watch him play. But Federer admits his boys, now four, do not really know what he is doing.
“They know I play a lot of tennis but they won’t know what my ranking is,” he said. “They wouldn’t know what I’m actually trying to do. They know there is a trophy involved if I do play well. They get most excited about the trophies.”
One obstacle was removed from his path yesterday when Borna Coric, who beat Federer in the final of his warm-up event at Halle last week, lost 7-6, 6-2, 6-2 to Daniel Medvedev.
Oh, and the kit deal? It is with Uniqlo, in case you are interested.