KARACHI: Roger Federer insists his Wimbledon triumph should serve as a caution to his Olympic rivals that age won’t be a barrier to his dream of winning a gold medal at the All England Club.
Federer is back at Wimbledon for the Olympics only three weeks after thrashing Andy Murray to settle a record equalling seventh title at the grass-court Grand Slam, but the Swiss star’s thirst for success hasn’t been quenched just yet.
After ending his two-year lack at the majors and returning to the top of the world rankings, Federer once again emit the supreme confidence that characterised his long-lasting spell as the sport’s main force.
He has quiet the critics who claimed the 30-year-old was a fading force who was more focused on his young family than working to combat the twin threat posed by Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
And Federer suppose his latest Wimbledon crown is extra special as it came at an age when most players his age have already retired and in a period when Djokovic, Nadal and Andy Murray, all three significantly younger than him, have provided intense competition for the top prizes.
“Winning Wimbledon has definitely sunk in now, especially when I look at the draw here and see I’m the number one seed. It hasn’t been that way in some time," Federer said ahead of Saturday’s opening day of the tournament.
He won gold in the doubles with Stanislas Wawrinka at the 2008 Games in Beijing, but Olympic singles gold is the one major individual honour to have eluded Federer, with his best performance coming in Sydney in 2000, when he finished fourth.
"I always thought when I played the Olympics at Wimbledon I would feel incredible pressure, but thinking about it I don’t have much pressure because I already have a gold medal," Federer said.
"I always believed I would get back to number one. I knew my game was strong. I had a couple of tough losses last year that stopped me going further and maybe get back to number one earlier. But the good thing is I never gave up and started to play better, especially at Wimbledon when the pressure was so high” he added.
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