FEDEX EYES 8TH TITLE
At 35, Roger Federer knows every day cannot be a Sunday for him.
Or, for that matter, that Sunday (January 29, 2017) in Melbourne which saw him perform a miracle.
Who would have thought that the ageing Swiss, who was out for six months, would win five-set epics in pre-quarters, semis and final to lay his hands on that trophy?
Who would have even dreamed of a Federer fightback from a break down (1-3) in the fifth set against Rafael Nadal — his greatest nemesis whose assassin-like mental edge over him in Slam fifth sets had made him cry like a baby on the same court eight years ago? No wonder Federer spoke like a kid in Dubai when we asked him to relive that surreal Sunday. “It came as really huge surprise. Incredible moments, some of the strongest probably I have ever felt as a tennis player. I am still riding the wave,” Federer said as he prepared for his eighth Dubai Duty Free Championships title on Sunday.
“It was such a tough last year, playing basically one healthy tournament (last year) in Australia. And the rest of it, I was sick in Brisbane or injured or not well or hurt throughout the rest of the season. So for me to then come back this way, it couldn’t have been better. It’s amazing.” Federer didn’t shy away from admitting that he had watched the highlights of that Sunday final ‘again and again and again’.
“I haven’t seen the whole match. I had friends and everybody said, ‘Let’s watch the match and make a movie night’, and I am like, ‘No, not three and a half hours please’. “But I have seen a million highlights — again and again and again — of the fifth set, of the best shots or best shots of the tournament,” he said.
In his own words, this Australian Open triumph was the most special of all his slams.
But the Swiss says he knows that there is no guarantee that he would win a 19th or a 20th slam.
“The French is going to be hard just because I would have to put in so much work in the clay court season to be ready and even than there’s no guarantee,” he said.
“I think Wimbledon, US Open, I’ll always have chances as long as I am playing and I am healthy. So yeah, you dare to dream, sure. Why not? The goal will be eventually Wimbledon, where I know I am going to have my best chance and I hope to be at a 100 per cent.” rituraj@khaleejtimes.com