LITTLE ROCK — Never accuse Roger Federer of being shy.
He hasn’t been past the quarterfinals of Wimbledon (or any grass-court tournament) in the last two years and he’s 30 years old. Andre Agassi is the last 30-year-old to win a major title, and thatwas in 2003 at the Australian Open.
Fe de re r has never go n e away, and is arriving at Wimbledon 2012, which begins today, with the serious goal of winning a seventh men’s singles title - something only Pete Sampras has done at the All England Club in the modern era.
Other than Sampras, only Willie Renshaw, a player from the 1880s who often got a bye directly to the final as defending champion, has won seven Wimbledon men’s titles, and Federer would very much like to become the third.
“Over a two-, three-week period, a lot of things can go wrong for you or go right for you and if you come through, it’s a beautiful feeling,” Federer said. “I am dreaming of the title. There is no denying that.”
There’s also no denying that the last nine major trophies have been held by either Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal, who have played each other in the last four Grand Slam finals and are seeded 1-2 at Wimbledon. Federer may have 16 major titles, more than anyone else, 1 but it’s been almost 2/2 years since he last won one, at the 2010 Australian Open.
“I don’t feel like I have to work on anything specific because I feel everything is working in my game,” Federer said. “Physically I have no lingering injuries. I’m in a good spot right now.”
Other players have been more subdued.
Like Federer, Serena Williams is 30, and like Federer it’s been a while since she last won a major, at Wimbledon in 2010. What followed was a series of injuries and illnesses and two upset losses - to Samantha Stosur in the final of the 2011 U.S. Open and last month in the first round of the French Open to Virginie Razzano. It was Williams’ first first round loss in a major in 47 appearances.
Williams, who has won Wimbledon four times, said that loss in Paris made her neither more nor less confident.
“Whether I won in Paris or lost like I did in the first round, I am always extremely motivated,” she said. “If anything, you know, I think losing makes me more motivated.”
Maria Sharapova, who upset Williams at Wimbledon to win her first major in 2004, brought her career full circle last month by winning her first French Open title to complete a career Grand Slam- winning each of the four majors at least once. She’s seeded No. 1 at Wimbledon and is the favorite this year. She and Williams wouldn’t meet until the final, a match up anticipated by many tennis fans.
Sharapova tried to dampen the anticipation by saying of the French and Wimbledon, “I think it’s the toughest back to-back.”
The transition from the slow clay surface of Roland Garros to the grass courts of the All England Club, with just two weeks in between, is “the toughest turnaround” in Grand Slam tennis, Sharapova said. Especially, she added, for a player coming off a French Open final.
Williams is the last woman to win the French and Wimbledon back to back in 2002. Sharapova says she has a chance to do it.
“I’m certainly happy with what I achieved,” Sharapova said. “But that doesn’t make me less eager to want to achieve more.
“Obviously when I was coming to the French for the last three years, it’s been the one I hadn’t won, so that was the story line. Maybe there will be a new story line now. It would be a nice change.”Wimbledon glance
A quick look at Wimbledon: SITE The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
SCHEDULE Play begins today. The women’s singles final is July 7; the men’s singles final is July 8. There are no matches scheduled for the two-week tournament’s middle Sunday, July 1 ON COURT TODAY No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs. Juan Carlos Ferrero, No. 3 Roger Federer vs. Albert Ramos, No. 6 Tomas Berdych vs. Ernests Gulbis, No. 11 John Isner vs. Alejandro Falla; No. 1 Maria Sharapova vs. Anastasia Rodionova, No.
3 Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Magdalena Rybarikova, No. 18 Jelena Jankovic vs.
Kim Clijsters, Venus Williams vs. Elena Vesnina.
TODAY’S FORECAST Partly cloudy. High of 70 degrees.
2011 MEN’S SINGLES CHAMPION Novak Djokovic of Serbia 2011 WOMEN’S SINGLES CHAMPION Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic
Sports, Pages 18 on 06/25/2012