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Roger Federer Wimbledon defeat

‘I collapsed in tears after Wimbledon final defeat,’ admits Roger Federer


Roger Federer ‘collapsed in tears’ in the locker room after his heartbreaking Wimbledon final defeat to Novak Djokovic.

Federer was eventually vanquised on Centre Court after nearly five brilliant hours of tennis this year by a suprememly dogged Djokovic.

The Swiss star had match-points to win what would have been his ninth crown at The Championships, but was forced instead to swallow a bitter defeat.

Federer told Gazetta dello Sport: “The last time I cried? Two months ago at Wimbledon.

“In the field and also at the awards ceremony I held back the tears.

“Then as soon as I got down to the locker room, on the first comment ‘what bad luck, you were close…’ I collapsed and a few tears escaped.”

Novak Djokovic wins Wimbledon 2019

Federer also spoke about his longevity in the interview, revealing he doesn’t have a special diet routine like many of his rivals.

He does, though, enjoy to celebrate wins with champagne, although occasionally it gets a little out of hand.

“I like to celebrate a victory with a good glass of champagne,” Federer said.

“Once I got drunk too. It happened after winning the US Open. It took me three and a half days to recover completely.

“The tournament was finished on Sunday evening and I only recovered on Thursday.

“I remember everything: the bar was about to close, so we ordered drinks in advance for the following hours. We realized that we had ordered too many.

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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.