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At 33, Roger Federer isn’t worried about age. The Swiss is saying that right is he has never been as well prepaered for Wimbledon as he is now. And Roger’s won Wimbledon seven times!
“it’s probably been the best preparation I’ve ever had for Wimbledon,” said Federer Saturday, pointing out that he had an extra week to prepare.
“(The extended season has) changed everything, to be honest. You might think that a week is not a lot, but a week is so much for us players. The good thing is you can heal problems you might have carried over from the French rather than taking chances right away running onto the grass, or not playing a warm-up event.
“I could rest and relax and then really train and prepare properly, for a change, for a good grass-court season. Just the moving on grass takes some adjustment. Also, in my opinion, some physical adjustment, which I had all the time to do. That worked well. I could go early to Halle, train a lot, rest again. Same here. Arrived two days after the finals. Trained for three days, off today.
“I can totally pace myself, which is huge in an athlete’s career and life.”
Federer plays Tuesday against Damir Dzuhmer in a re-match of their French Open clash. But despite his struggles in his last three Slams, Federer remains upbeat about his chances to take it a step further than last year when he made the finals.
“This year I feel my game is better,” Federer said. “I’ve gotten used to the racquet. This is not the first time I’m at Wimbledon with Stefan Edberg. The work I’ve put in with Severin, my coach, I could really aim for Wimbledon this year. Whereas last year, it was all about getting back.
“If I do look at last year, I see more the positives than actually the heartbreaking loss in the final.”
Federer hasn’t won a Grand Slam title since his 2012 Wimbledon victory over Andy Murray, and he’s only reached a Slam final once since then, that last year at Wimbledon. And Roger says he has no plans for retirement.
“I haven’t thought about it a whole lot to be honest,” he said. “I don’t want to go there with my thoughts because the more I think about it, the closer I am to retirement, but everyone has done it differently. In my case clearly I need to think about it eventually, but not for the moment.”
Federer is ranked second with four titles on the season. He could meet Feliciano Lopez in the fourth round, Tomas Berdych in the quarters and either Andy Murray or Rafael Nadal in the semifinals.
This Swiss is playing in a record 63rd straight Grand Slam event.
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