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Djokovic, Nadal, Murray Out; It’s Now Federer’s Wimbledon To Lose

A perfect season, completely planned, by the master.

Roger Federer is the only player in the “big four” still in contention at the Wimbledon.
Roger Federer is the only player in the “big four” still in contention at the Wimbledon.

Since 2003, the men’s draw at Wimbledon has been the monopoly of four players -Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal.

As of Thursday morning, three of those names are no more on the roster at SW19. Top seed and defending champion Andy Murray was beaten in five sets, Novak Djokovic retired from his quarter-final with an elbow injury and earlier in the week, two-time former champion Rafael Nadal lost a marathon five-setter to Gilles Muller.

35-year-old Roger Federer, playing his 19th Wimbledon, is the only “big four” name left, in the last four.

"It's nice to see different guys, maybe, but I'm happy that my dream run continues," Federer said after an easy three sets win over Milos Raonic in his quarter-final, "and we'll now see what happens next."

(Rahul Gupta/<b>The Quint</b>)
(Rahul Gupta/The Quint)

The Return of Federer

While his rivals have tumbled out of The Championships, Roger Federer’s campaign has been in stark contrast. The world number five hasn't dropped a single set in his five matches so far, the only player in the semi-finals to make the claim.

Federer has won 63 out of 66 service games, faced only 14 break points and made only 49 unforced errors, fewer than 10 per match.

This is, after all, a different Federer on tour than the one who hobbled out of Wimbledon last season. Exhausted, injured and without a Grand Slam since 2012, the Swiss ace made the tough decision of taking the rest of the season off to recover his surgically repaired knee, following a five-set semi-final exit from Wimbledon. He missed the Olympics, the US Open and the season-ending ATP finale. It was a big risk.

But in his very first tournament back, a fit and rejuvenated Roger beat Rafael Nadal to win the Australian Open, his first at Melbourne since 2010. His 18th Grand Slam title.

His season since has been a study in professional tennis.

One of the oldest players on the circuit, Federer has been selective with his outings this year. Having missed a large chunk of tournaments last year due to injury, he had very few points to defend and the focus has been on his strengths. After winning the Australian Open, Federer played a handful of tournaments and then pulled out the French Open, with an eye to the future.

I’ve been working really hard, both on and off the court, during the last month but in order to try and play on the ATP World Tour for many years to come, I feel it’s best to skip the clay court season this year and prepare for the grass and hard court seasons.
Roger Federer’s statement announcing his withdrawal from the French Open

The gamble has clearly paid off.

Just four men are now left at the Wimbledon. The oldest is also the highest seed. Needless to say, he is also the favourite.

While Murray and Djokovic struggled in their matches at Wimbledon on Wednesday, Roger Federer beat Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-2, 7-6. A complete contrast from their match-up last season when Raonic came out on top after five sets.

The chips are all falling in place.

"I could never really play quite so freely last year just because (now) I'm more focused on how the knee's behaving, rather than how I need to hit my forehand or backhand or what's not going to be good for my opponent," Federer said. "This year, I'm just a normal tennis player again, where I can focus on tactics. I think that's the difference. I'm playing very well. I'm rested. I'm fresh. I'm confident, too. Then great things do happen."

A Learning For The Rest

A pathbreaker of his time, the decision to take the time off could not have been an easy one for the legend. Any other player and a surgery at 34, would have meant a polite press conference and a walk into the sunset.

But 17 Grand Slams do separate Roger Federer and just any other player. Now, as he walks past the halls of SW19 there is a learning in this for his contemporaries as well.

Djokovic, who retired from his quarter-final match due to an elbow injury, said after the match that the strain had been bothering him for over a year and a half. Having dropped to number five in the world, Djokovic added that he was contemplating taking time away from the tour to recover fully.

Andy Murray too was seen struggling with his hip strain during a 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-1 loss to Sam Querrey. The defending champion too later said he would contemplate going the Federer-way.

"We both had a very long, very tough year, a lot of matches, a lot of emotions, a lot of things in play," Djokovic said. "Our bodies have taken a lot physically."

While the rest decide their next move, Roger Federer still has two matches to play before grass-court glory is his again. He faces world number 11 Tomas Berdych on Friday night.

In the other semi-final is world number 24, Sam Querrey, America’s first male player to reach a Major semi-final since 2009 and Marin Cilic.

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