Another day, another landmark or two for Roger Federer. By coming through his first round match against Alexandr Dolgopolov – albeit by dint of the Ukrainian’s retirement with an ankle injury when Federer was leading 6-3, 3-0 – the Swiss notched up Wimbledon career win number 85, more than any other man in history. As if that was not enough, among the 10 aces he delivered was the 10,000th of his career.
Having won the Gentlemen’s Singles Championship seven times, on the occasion of his 70th Grand Slam tournament Federer can hardly breathe hereabouts without creating an improbable record of some sort. Even the quality of the audible encouragement he receives from the crowd is a cut above the rest. In the first set he was poised to serve at 4-3, 40-30, when one voice among the 15,000 present on the Centre Court made itself heard above the others. “Marry me, Roger!” came the bellowed request, in solidly male tones. Federer paused for a tiny moment, allowing himself the smallest of smiles, and the crowd was still laughing when he sent down an unreturned serve to make it 5-3. Styling it out, as always.
There may be some facet to the Swiss which ranks among the merely ordinary but, 19 years into his professional career, it is proving somewhat difficult for observers to find. Take his interviews. Post-match chats the moment players exit a court can be a tad uninspired. Not Federer’s. Asked by the BBC as he left the Centre Court about the remarkable fact that, with his 36th birthday in sight next month, he is the title favourite, Federer could have delivered any number of routinely dull responses. Instead, he came up with an engagingly sparky phrase to bat away the title talk, which not only served his own competitive mindset at this early stage of The Championships, but made intriguing listening.
“The question is… who is making you that favourite?” responded the No.3 seed, who of course opted to skip the strength-sapping European clay court swing to preserve his energies for his beloved grass. “Just because I haven’t played clay doesn’t make me a favourite. You would think someone who has been playing well on clay, like Rafa, would be feeling really good about their chances here. Same goes for Andy and for Novak. Everyone has the chance to win it.”
Yet for all the instinctive playing down of his status as favourite (he captured his ninth Halle crown in the Wimbledon warm-up), how he must love being a true contender here again. Having last lifted the golden trophy in SW19 in 2012, there have been times in the intervening years when observers began making well-intentioned – and entirely unwanted – allowances for his age. No matter that the old competitive fires raged as strongly within him as ever, to some he assumed the status of an adorable mascot – a popular past champion for whom one more victory would be a bonus. It must have been nauseating to endure.
Two hours after the end of his curtailed first round match, he expanded on such matters in his press conference. Asked whether it is better to play as world No.1, or to play as someone trying to reach the top spot, he did not hesitate. “If I can choose, it’s better to be No.1, because it feels better to be No.1 than No.5,” smiled Federer, with a nod to his current ranking. “I mean, I'm happy right now in the situation I find myself in. I'm healthy. I'm back at Wimbledon. I just won my first round. The times when I was world No. 1, it felt great. It's sort of achieving the impossible, showing up when everybody feels you're the favourite, everybody believes that you should win or have to win. I enjoyed that part of playing. But then again, it's secondary to the love for the game I have, how much I love winning. Rankings get shoved aside a little bit for me at this stage of my life.”
There are so many reasons for Planet Tennis to be grateful for Federer. Just one among them is his articulacy. Should he somehow find a way to postpone all thoughts of life after tennis forever and a day, that will do a lot of us just fine. Fingers crossed.
