Federer wants another Wimbledon
Originally published on: 26/02/10 15:03
Roger Federer says that if he had to choose between regaining the world No.1 ranking or winning Wimbledon for a sixth time in 2009 he would choose another Wimbledon title every time.
The Swiss 27-year-old was talking to the media ahead of his exhibition with James Blake, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg in Kuala Lumpur.
“Id take Wimbledon any day in front of my number one rank,” Federer said.
“Its a good problem to have, but I love Wimbledon. Its opened my eyes, to play at Wimbledon as a junior and to be part of tradition and a part of history.
“Its so much in your face over there and Ive really enjoyed it and its been such an honour.
“While I would also love to beat Pete Sampras’ Grand Slam record of 14 titles, and also to regain my No.1 ranking, I place winning another Wimbledon title above all else.
“For next year, I guess it goes hand-in-hand a little bit, winning Grand Slams and getting the number one ranking back.
Federer famously lost to Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon final in what many say was the best match of all time last July and was then overtaken by the Spaniard at the top of the world rankings.
The Swiss 13-time grand slam champion needs just one more major to equal Pete Sampras all-time record of 14 and will be aiming to add to his tally at the Australian Open in January.
Id love to win the Australian Open to start off the year, but many guys want the same thing so it wont be easy, Federer said.
“I think it is going to be an interesting year ahead for me, because I think next year will be a much better scheduling year for everybody.
“This year the travel was pretty gruelling and I think next year is going to be better so Im looking forward to that.”
Federer also talked about the day hell hang up his racket but assured fans that wont be for a few years yet.
“Its not going to happen anytime soon because I want to play for many years to come,” Federer added.
“But Im definitely thinking more about the future than I used to. Before it was all about the present, trying to deal with the stress of the tour, but today I can enjoy tennis more.
“After tennis is over, I guess you always want to stay in the sport in some way but Id also like to spend more time with my foundation, the projects I support.
“And I have long relationships with some of my sponsors, so maybe that is something that is going to carry through. Im looking forward to whats next.”
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