Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates after defeating Andy Murray of Great Britain to win his 7th Wimbledon championship in London on Sunday
Posted on 07/08/2012 12:24:54 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Roger Federer secured a record-equalling seventh Wimbledon title to dash the hopes of Andy Murray and a partisan Centre Court crowd.
Federer made it 17 Grand Slam titles to his name after a two-and-a-half-year drought and matched the haul of American Pete Sampras at the All England Club.
The Swiss will return to the top of the world rankings as a result of his 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4 victory.
For Murray, the first Briton to reach a men's singles final at Wimbledon in 74 years, it represented his fourth defeat in major finals, his pain acutely felt by a fervent crowd at Wimbledon.
Federer's triumph was his first at Wimbledon since 2009, his last major win coming at the Australian Open in 2010, when he also beat Murray.
"It's amazing," Federer told the host broadcaster of winning his seventh Wimbledon title. "It equals me with Pete Sampras, who is my hero, so it feels amazing.
"I think I played some of my best tennis in the last couple of matches. It's worked out so many times here that I play my best in semis and the final. I couldn't be more happy -- it feels being great being back here as the winner. It's a great moment."
Federer's victory means he is only the second player in the men's game to have held the top ranking over the age of 30, alongside Andre Agassi.
"As we know, the world No. 1, you don't get that gifted," he added. "I was up two sets to love in the quarters last year, two sets to love up at U.S. Open, so many chances, maybe I got nervous, maybe the other guys were just too good.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
I’m not a tennis fan, but this guy’s performance over the last ten years has been nothing short of remarkable. If he were an American, I wonder if we’d even know who Tiger Woods is.
Well Tiger just passed Nicklaus for total PGA tour victories so they are both way up there in terms of accomplishments. I think of Tiger as Elin’s ex btw.
every year they floated the idea that if a Brit made the finals the queen would go to Wimbledon ....this year I never heard anything like that ....couldn’t even get that dullard Charles to show up for the final ...
this win just futher solidifies Roger’s legacy ...7 Wimbledons ...breaking the Sampras record of weeks at No. 1 ...and how he does all this and barely looks like he breaks a sweat I’ll never understand
There’s only one microscopic weakness in Federer’s game which is the inefficient one-handed backhand which cannot generate power from the baseline or behind the baseline, and that would be all but impossible for anybody to exploit on grass. If Federer’s healthy, he should not be beaten on grass.
I think you owe the Dullards of the world an apology.
“There’s only one microscopic weakness in Federer’s game which is the inefficient one-handed backhand which cannot generate power “
I’ve never seen Fed play a better match than today and it was because I’ve never seen Fed have so much power off the back hand side. He was just ripping his backhand.
If his backhand stays this good, Federer could win many more grand slams.
Federer is doing the best job of hitting that shot which has ever been done but it’s still an inefficient shot, sort of like lifting a stone instead of using a lever; he’s moving his arm one foot to move the racket head one foot. Again I have no picture of anybody exploiting that on grass.
As a former Top 20 North Carolina junior and one who hashed a 2-handed backhand before switching to a 1-handed you are WRONG.
I hit the ball harder on my backhand than the vast majority of my 2-handed opponents.
There is a reason the bet players of all time used a 1-handed backhand ya know.
The 1- handed is the most versatile and dangerous stroke in tennis.
The 1- handed is the most versatile and dangerous stroke in tennis.
Sorry, but that's still wrong. Guys like Federer and Sampras who use that shot are moving their arm one foot to move the racket head one foot which is like lifting a stone with your arms rather than using a lever or arm punching in boxing. You can always tell the arm puncher in a prize fight, he's the guy being carried out in a wheelbarrow.
Wimbledon 2012: Andy Murray’s tears in defeat
Britain’s Andy Murray fights back the tears as he congratulates Roger Federer on winning the Wimbledon final and thanks the crowd for their support.
Murray, 25, won the first set but was beaten 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4 as the Swiss master won a record-equalling seventh men’s singles title and his 17th Grand Slam.’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/18763335
I really feel bad for Andy. He can’t seem to get a grand slam and everytime one of the grand slams is within his reach, IT IS ROGER FEDERER WHO GETS IN HIS WAY.
This isn’t the first time he’s teared up. He also teared up in 2010 when he lost to Federer at the finals of the Australian Open.
Federer consoled him then and said: “You will win a grand slam one day. You’re too good of a player, so don’t worry about it.”
Well, he might, but that’ll probably be after Federer retires. But then he has Nadal and Djokovic to contend with.
Your ignorance on this subject is quite annoying.
Go watch footage of Federer’s 1-handed return of serve or footage of when he takes the ball early. The racquet starts off low-mid thigh and ends shoulder height. No backswing required.
The only time you need to take a backswing is when you have plenty of time to set up. Even then, it is a restricted backhand.
Now, from my own personal experience (I have used both 2 and 1-handed extensively in USTA Junior’s and I was pretty darn good) the 2-handed limits creativity and is pretty darn predictable. It’s reach is also quite limited so it takes more energy to use a 2-handed because one must take 1+ more steps to reach a ball than a 1-handed.
A 1-handed, on the other hand, has great reach, very unpredictable (easy to conceal a slice or dropshot by making it look like your regular stroke) and can create angles that the 2 can’t hope to match.
There is more to the stroke than just how much you move the racquet head ya know.
The ONLY weakness (and it’s a big one) of the 1-hander is the high (above shoulder height) backhand shot. That sucker is HARD. Other than that, the 1-hander is better in every way. The 2-hander is easier to learn and requires less athletic ability to become consistent. That is why it is prevalent.
But what do I know? I’ve only played tennis for 20 years.
Edit:
A second weakness (I suppose) would be that the 1-hander requries near perfect timing every shot or you’ll be shanking the ball into the stands.
Remember when American men used to win Wimbledon?
In fact if Venus Williams were healthy, you could set up a match between her and Federer, best two of three sets, nobody hits a forehand and no serving, put the ball in play with a machine, and Federer would lose that one as well, that would be an efficient shot versus an inefficient shot.
Haha?
Del Potro won that much for a variety of reasons (working the backhand is included) but maybe you missed Murray vs. Federer where Federer’s backhand absolutely CRUSHED Murray’s backhand? There is ALOT more that goes into a stroke than racquet head movement. Go play competitive tennis for a few years and you’ll understand where I’m coming from.
In regards to Venus beating Federer with only backhands, this proves you have no idea what you’re talking about. None. Venus would be blown off the court by the power of Fed’s backhand.
Go play competitive tennis before lecturing people about inefficiencies. What is true on paper isn’t always true in the real world.
The laws of physics work the same way for tennis players as for other people.
Add into your calculation the energy required to take the 1+ extra step to REACH the ball and then the 1+ extra step to move back into position after hitting the ball.
That’s a minimum of 2 extra steps in order to hit the 2 vs. the 1.
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