London: Twelve months after shutting down his season in the wake of a devastating semi-final defeat, Roger Federer returns to Wimbledon as favourite to capture a record-breaking eighth title and become the tournament’s oldest champion.
The evergreen Swiss, who turns 36 in August, has stunned the critics who wrote him off as yesterday’s man when he went down to Milos Raonic in five gruelling sets on Centre Court in 2016.
The loss forced him off tour for the remainder of the year to rest a knee injury, leaving his Grand Slam title count on 17 where it had been since 2012.
Fast forward a year and Federer is poised to break the tie for seven Wimbledon titles he shares with Pete Sampras and take his career tally at the majors to 19.
With eternal rivals Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in slumps of varying degrees, and Rafael Nadal fretting over whether or not his knees will bear the stress of grass courts, it is Federer once again in the box seat.
Federer, who captured a fifth Australian Open in January, will go into Wimbledon buoyed by a ninth title on the grass of Halle and refreshed by skipping the claycourt season.
However, he will not write off his three major rivals with whom he has shared all the Wimbledon titles since his maiden triumph in 2003.
“If Andy is anything close to 100% physically, I consider him one of the big favourites to win. It’s that simple. It’s the same for Novak and the same for Rafa,” said Federer who will start his Wimbledon campaign against Alexander Dolgopolov of Ukraine.
Nadal admits that if he suffers a new problem with his knees on the Wimbledon grass, where the lower bounce of the ball piles more pressure on the legs and joints, then his visit to London may again be short-lived.
“If I have pain in the knees, then I know from experience that it’s almost impossible,” said the 31-year-old.
Djokovic, the three-time Wimbledon champion, warmed up by claiming a morale-boosting title win at Eastbourne on Saturday, his first trophy since Doha in January.
The Serb was on top of the world just over 12 months ago when he arrived at Wimbledon with all four Grand Slams in his possession.
However, a third round loss to Sam Querrey set him on a slide which has been more or less constant ever since.
The jury is still out on his decision to hire Andre Agassi as coach while his quarter-final loss at Roland Garros to Dominic Thiem was his first in straight sets at the majors in four years.
“All the top players go through this. I have to get through it and learn the lessons and come back stronger,” said the 30-year-old Serb.
Wimbledon braced for new women’s shock
With Serena Williams preparing for the birth of her first child and Maria Sharapova sidelined by a thigh injury, the race to be crowned Wimbledon champion is the most wide-open in a generation.
Having stepped away from the court as she waits to become a mother in September, Williams, who won Wimbledon in 2015 and 2016, has created a power vacuum at the top.
But the flip-side is the opportunity for the sport’s less heralded names to seize the spotlight, as Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko showed with her unexpected breakthrough triumph at the French Open. Now she has to prove that stunning success was more than a flash in the pan.
Angelique Kerber needs to improve dramatically after making unwanted history when her defeat against Ekaterina Makarova made her the first top-ranked woman in the Open era to fall in the opening round at Roland Garros.
If Petra Kvitova gets her hands on the Venus Rosewater Dish for a third time, it would complete a fairytale comeback for the Czech following the horrific hand injury.
Five-time Wimbledon winner Venus Williams, aged 37, will be another sentimental favourite.
