Federer the last of the big four left standing
30
views
The last 16 and the quarter finals in Wimbledon provided quite a few major surprises in the men’s draw.
When Rafael Nadal lost in the last 16 against a very cool Gilles Mueller, hardly anyone could foresee what would await us in the quarter finals.
It was Andy Murray who provided the biggest shock of the day, losing after going up 2 sets to 1 against American Sam Querrey. It was later revealed Murray has been suffering with a hip injury for a while now and even Federer took his figurative hat off to Murray for a valiant effort.
loading...
It was Djokovic’s turn next. Again, another injury decided his clash against eternal underachiever Tomas Berdych. Djokovic’s elbow just couldn’t handle the barrage of heavy base line shots coming from the Czech hard hitter.
Then there was Federer. Any thoughts of his loss seemed ridiculous after he breezed through the first two sets. However, his Canadian opponent Raonic put up a valiant effort in the third and had Federer not remained focused, who knows…
So, it is the 35 year-old Federer who is the only one of the major favourites left alive, so to speak. Thus far, he hasn’t dropped a set and he has looked at ease, not really straining for any of his victories. He is supposedly struggling with a cold, but he hasn’t showed any problems yet.
Who could challenge Federer?
While Federer is now the huge favourite to lift his 8<sup>th</sup> Wimbledon trophy on Sunday, it’s not a done deal. First, he will have to get past Tomas Berdych, a man who had already beaten Federer in Wimbledon (2010) and has some of the fastest strokes on tour besides a very good serve as well. Federer will need to continue the tactic he used against Raonic, giving his opponent very difficult and low-bouncing shots, particularly effective against taller players, who aren’t very good movers on the court.
In the final, Federer could deal with the only man besides him left in the draw who has won a grand slam. Marin Cilic possesses an all-round game – strong serve, fierce ground strokes. Again, Federer would be favourite because of his graceful movement and his ability to take his opponents off balance. Would Federer’s opponent in the final be Sam Querrey, Federer’s tactic would remain the same.
Most experts agree – as long as Federer continues to return as well as he did against Raonic and serves as well there is little to stop him from lifting another Grand Slam trophy this coming Sunday.
loading...
Loading...