Posted on 07/16/2017 8:26:00 AM PDT by EdnaMode
Roger Federer is a Wimbledon champion for a men's record eighth time, defeating Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 in Sunday's final.
The win moves Federer above both Pete Sampras and William Renshaw, who each have won seven titles at the grass-court major, for the most men's titles in the history of an event first held in 1877.
"It's disbelief that I can achieve such heights," Federer said in his postmatch, on-court interview. "I wasn't sure if I was ever going to be here, in another final."
When it ended, with an ace from Federer after merely 1 hour, 41 minutes, he raised both arms overhead. A minute or so later, he was sitting on the sideline, wiping tears from his eyes.
Truly, the outcome was only in doubt for about 20 minutes, the amount of time it took Federer to grab his first lead. Cilic, whose left foot was treated by a trainer in the late going, was never able to summon the intimidating serves or crisp volleys that carried him to his lone Grand Slam title at the 2014 US Open. Cilic beat Federer in the semifinals during that run, his only win over the Swiss player.
The 35-year-old Federer became the oldest champion at the All England Club, and he won his second Grand Slam of the year in impeccable fashion by not dropping a set throughout the two-week run. Federer joins Bjorn Borg (1976) as the only men in the Open era to win Wimbledon without losing a set, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Federer last won the grass-court major in 2012 but took the Australian Open title this year before skipping the French Open to focus on the remainder of the season.
That decision apparently paid off for the now 19-time Grand Slam champion.
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.com ...
Terrific. It sucks that American men’s tennis is in such shambles; however, I love rooting for RF. Class guy all the way.
I love Federer. I watched a relatively unknown Nadal in a match in Atlanta quite a few years ago when he was 18. It was apparent he would be a star.
The US needs a Pete Sampras with a personality. :-)
Color me skeptical.
PED’s are evidently finding new ways to elude testing. This guy was breaking down and declining for the past two years. Of course, he was. He had reached that age where players do. His biggest rivals (Murray and Djokovich) who are younger are breaking down. But miracle of miracles HERE’s yeah another over the hill athlete who happens to come back!! He not only phoned Ponce De Leon for some fountain of youth water, he comes back even better than he was in his prime.
Is that you Lance Armstrong?
I think the whole sport needs more personality. One player seems pretty much like another any more.
Sam Querry played a great tournament, getting to the semis (lost to Cilic in 4). Jack Sock is ranked 17 but not sure he has it in him to go much higher, although he started the year strongly. Isner always goes fairly deep into tournaments and is fun to watch.
Sure it’s been a while since Andy Roddick was no. 1 (2003!), but that was brief and, really, the space at the top 10, much less top 50 or to 100 is narrow. According to this site, http://www.atpcountry.com/#/app/graph?type=Number%20of%20players, the Top 100 rankings by country for no. of players as of June 12 is (These numbers have changed since Wimbledon, of course):
France: 11 (6 in top 50)
USA: 10 (6 in top 50)
Spain: 8 (7 in top 50)
Argentina: 6 (3 in top 50)
Germany: 6 (2 in top 50)
Russia: 5 (1 in top 50)
Only one country has more than 1 player in the top 10: Switerzland, of course, w/ Federer and Wawrinka.
See also this from this Sporting News, “Why doesn’t the U.S. generate more top-ranked men’s tennis players?”
“If you look at the last 15 years in men’s tennis, there have been nine players ranked #1 in the world: one person each from Serbia, Switzerland, Australia, Russia, and Brazil; and two each from Spain and the United States. And only five of the nine held the ranking for over a year in total. So there is no country that has dominated the top of the game in a significant way. It is pretty reasonable to conclude that in today’s global tennis world, no country can consistently produce top 4 talent much better than the others. The reason that the United States perceives this as a sudden slump is that we are still thinking back to the days when tennis was not as global, and there wasn’t nearly as much money at stake.”
http://www.sportingnews.com/tennis/news/why-doesnt-the-us-generate-more-top-ranked-mens-tennis-players/gkd5lbqw1fzf1aprl2ws464wd
Seriously. What crap. Do you actually WATCH tennis? Do you actually WATCH Federer? ‘nough said.
I watch it and play it. I remember well the defenders of Lance Armstrong as he dominated the Tour de France even as he passed an age where most cyclists declined. So Roger is suddenly younger and more dominant than he ever was in his prime? Sure!!! It’s a miracle I tell ya!! One that keeps Sharapovaing and Armstronging and A-roding and and and.
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