Federer: I’m feeling good

 

Originally published on: 02/08/12 00:00

Four years ago Federer warmed his hands on doubles partner Stanislas Wawrinka after the pair claimed Olympic Gold in Beijing, but there’ll be no repeat of the bizarre celebration in 2012 after the Swiss team were beaten in round two.

The sixth seeds, who bettered the Bryan brothers in the 2008 final, fell to Israel's Jonathan Elrich and Andy Ram 1-6 7-6(5) 6-3 in the second round but Federer, at least, still had reason to be cheerful after beating Denis Istomin to move into the quarter-finals of the singles.

"I'm disappointed but overall I'm feeling good,” said the world No.1. “It's obviously a whole different feeling out there because of the Olympic Games.

"Best-of-three-set tennis is very fast. In the doubles, even more so. I think we played two good doubles and I'm playing well in the singles.”

Federer has never won an Olympic singles medal and finished fourth at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, but his quarter-final opponent, John Isner, knows the scale of his challenge of stopping the 17-time Grand Slam champion in his current form.

"He's the hottest guy on the tour, he's back to No. 1 in the world,” said Isner, who will play on Centre Court at Wimbledon for the first time on Thursday.

“It's going to be a very fun experience,” he said. “I'm going to have to serve well.

"I have to go for my shots. Anytime I get a ball I can hit, I'm going to have to hit it big because I can't rally with Roger. It's as simple as that. If I try to get in rallies with him, he's going to beat me."

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