The Oklahoman

Federer back to defend at Wimbledon

- BY HOWARD FENDRICH

LONDON — Go back 15 years, to the start of Wimbledon in June 2003, and take a glimpse at where things stood for Roger Federer.

He was 21. He had yet to reach No. 1 in the ATP rankings. Not only had the guy never won a Grand Slam tournament, he’d never even been past the quarterfin­als at one. He was coming off a first-round loss at the French Open a month earlier, and another at the All England Club a year earlier.

When all was said and done two weeks later, Federer was crying, cradling the champion’s gold trophy.

And now? When play begins at Wimbledon on Monday, with Federer closing in on his 37th birthday, he will have the honor of playing the first match at Centre Court as the defending champion. He earned his record eighth title at the grass-court major a year ago, and he ran his total Grand Slam haul to a record 20 men’s singles trophies by winning the Australian Open in January.

“I don’t know how much longer it’s going to last,” Federer said. “I have no idea.”

He was speaking about his own success. But he might as well have been talking about the two-man supremacy exhibited by himself and his greatest rival, Rafael Nadal.

Nadal, 32, hadn’t even entered a major tournament in 2003. These days, he trails only Federer in the all-time men’s Grand Slam standings, with 17 of his own, including No. 11 at the French Open just this month.

Remarkably, especially given all of the talk in recent years about their supposed declines, Federer and Nadal have divvied up all of the past six major titles, claiming a trio apiece.

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