Champion Roger is fit for purpose

SOME think Roger Federer got it easy in Sunday’s Wimbledon final. Well, yes and no. Marin Cilic’s blister played a part — certainly his reaction to it, mentally — but staying fit is also the test of a tournament.

At the Australian Open final in 2013, Andy Murray was treated for a particularly spiteful looking blister at the start of the third set. Beaten by Novak Djokovic, again, he limped up to get his consolation prize with all the freedom of an arthritic 80-year-old, yet dismissed pain as a factor.

‘I had two black toenails after the US Open,’ said Murray. ‘Blisters are sore, but you play through them. I’d say 90 per cent of the players here got through at least one match with the type of blisters I’m dealing with now.’

At the previous Grand Slam, the US Open, which he won, Murray explained that any five-set encounter with Djokovic will cost a toenail or two due to the way he moves his opponent around. So, yes, it was fortunate for Federer that Cilic saw his blister as an obstacle; but negotiating a tournament in the best of health at 35 is part of being a great champion.