Federer wimbledon10/31/2023 ![]() That place has been incredibly special to him." His agent Tony Godsick told the Evening Standard recently: "It was a great effort last year on one leg. This year's edition comes just to soon for the 40-year-old to try and add his name once again to the winner's wall.Ī quarter-final exit 12 months ago, the knee injury was plaguing him then, Federer has plans of once again returning to his favourite Slam. Ever since last year's competition, the Swiss legend underwent knee surgery and has been out of action since. With the action getting underway on Monday at SW19, the eight-time champion was nowhere to be seen and will be absent from this year's tournament. Navratilova’s nine singles championships are a Wimbledon record Williams, who lost in the first round last week, and Sampras, who retired in 2002, each won it seven times.Roger Federer has a long and successful history in Wimbledon. And there were big names from yesteryear, of course: Billie Jean King, Rod Laver, Chris Evert, Bjorn Borg - he and McEnroe, fierce rivals in the 1980s, hugged each other - Stefan Edberg and Goran Ivanisevic.Īlso listed by the club as attending: the son of Leslie Godfree, who delivered the first serve in the first match at Centre Court in 1922, and the grandson of Algernon Kingscote, Godfree’s opponent that day.Ībsent were three of the winningest players in tournament history: Martina Navratilova (who tested positive for COVID-19 and wrote on Twitter she was “gutted” to miss the occasion), Serena Williams and Pete Sampras. ![]() Previously, that was set aside as a day off, and only on four occasions - in 1991, 1997, 20 - did a backlog of matches created by too much rain lead organizers to add matches on that Sunday.Īndy Murray, whose 2013 Wimbledon singles trophy was the first for a British man in 77 years, Angelique Kerber and Petra Kvitova were other active players present. The six-time winner was scheduled to be out there on Centre Court in the fourth round later, which was unusual in its own right: This is the first time in history that the tournament was scheduled as a 14-day event, with play planned for the middle Sunday. Past champions on hand included some still in the brackets this year, such as Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Simona Halep in singles, and Venus Williams in mixed doubles.ĭjokovic joked when it was his turn with the microphone: “Gosh, I feel more nervous than when I’m playing.” This court has given me my biggest wins, my biggest losses.” “But it’s great to be here with all the other champions. Feels awkward to be here today in a different type of role,” said Federer, who had participated in every Wimbledon since his main-draw debut in 1999. “I’ve been lucky enough to play a lot of matches on this court. 8 and has been sidelined for a year because of knee problems, was among more than two dozen winners of singles championships at the grass-court tournament who appeared during a 35-minute tribute to the stadium that opened in 1922. Instead of the mandatory all-white playing uniform, Federer wore a dark suit and tie, his purple Wimbledon member’s badge pinned to a lapel. “And I hope I can come back one more time.” I hope I did that,” said Federer, who won a men’s-record eight of his 20 Grand Slam event titles at the All England Club and was greeted with a standing ovation. “Just tried to be successful here and represent the sport well. Roger Federer did make his way to Wimbledon this year, after all - not to compete, mind you, but to take part in a ceremony marking the centenary of Centre Court on Sunday - and declared his intention to try to return in 2023 with a racket in hand.
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