FED BLAMES FORM DIPS ON THE YIPS

ROGER FEDERER fears he is suffering from the “yips” at the grand old age of 37, according to Annabel Croft.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion suffered his worst-ever group stage defeat at the Nitto ATP World Tour Finals against Kei Nishikori.

The world No.3 now needs to beat Dominic Thiem tonight to stay in the season-ending tournament.

But the Swiss superstar (above) looked grumpy while making 34 unforced errors in his opening loss. He was also given a code violation for hitting the ball into the crowd.

And despite winning his 99th ATP Tour title in Basel last month, former British No.1 Croft reckons he is struggling with performance anxiety at the end of his career.

“Lurking beneath the surface are these nerves and jitters,” said the Sky Sports pundit. “In his interview on Friday he talked about nerves.

“Ultimately what he is almost saying is, ‘When I am going out there, there is a little bit of the yips coming into play’. We are not used to seeing it. And he is not free flowing.

“At the moment, you feel he is stuttering and thinking about so much, even in the basic ground strokes.”