The 20-time Grand Slam champion hasn’t played since Wimbledon last year, after which he had a third knee operation.
The Swiss legend has played more than 1,500 matches over 24 years, but the 41-year-old has never recovered from knee problems which he has had to suffer for the past three years, which has restricted his participation in only three of the 11 Slams staged since 2020.
His last competitive match was back at Wimbledon last summer where he lost to Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals.
Federer will live long in the memory of tennis fans around the world for his ultra-competitive spirit that he took with him whenever he set foot on any surface.
Only Spain’s Rafael Nadal with 22 majors and Novak Djokovic with 21, have won more men’s Grand Slam singles titles than Federer.
The Fed made his professional debut aged 16 in 1998 and won his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2003 when he beat Australian Mark Philippoussis in straight sets. The first of eight men’s singles victories at the All England Club.
Federer’s final Grand Slam triumph came at the 2018 Australian Open when at the age of 36 he become the second oldest man to win a major singles title in the Open era.
The Swiss reached number one for the first time in 2004 and also spent 310 weeks as the leading player on the ATP Tour during his career, a record until recently beaten by Djokovic in February 2021.
Alongside Stan Wawrinka, the pair won Olympics doubles gold for Switzerland at Beijing 2008 and singles silver at London 2012.
He was also part of the Swiss team that won the Davis Cup for the first time in 2014 and lifted a record six ATP Finals titles.
Federer will be part of the Europe team taking on a team representing the rest of the world at the three-day Laver Cup taking place at the O2 Arena in London starting on Friday.
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Held at the historic USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre the world best players will be in action with the exception of Novak Djokovic who has had to withdraw from the tournament as he is unable to entre the United States border owing to his own choice to be unvaccinated against Covid.
Djokovic. A 21-times grand slam champion, remained in the event until Thursday but then officially conceded he would not be able to travel to the United States.
Another tennis legend who wont be in Flushing Meadows is Roger Federer, who is still recovering from a knee operation with an uncertain future ahead of him.
In the Men’s event, Daniil Medvedev won last year’s tournament by beating Djokovic in the final. The Russian will be fancied to defend his title but will face stiff competition who will be after his crown.
In four of the previous six Australian or US Open, Medvedev has reached the finals and won his first major last year by winning at Flushing Meadows.
The Russian is currently ranked No.1 in the world, but he comes into this event with some below par performances having lost to Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas recently in Montreal and Cincinnati.
Rafael Nadal will go into the event a little rusty but will still be a serious contender given his outstanding Grand Slam record this year of 19-0.
19-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz looks destined to succeed at the top level of tennis. His finest successes to date have come on clay but has also won on hard courts.
The controversial Kyrgios can defeat anybody on any given day, if he can control his on-court antics. His powerful serve will trouble any opponent, but the worry in the back of his fan base will be that temperament of his.
Tsitsipas has the game to win a major, but his recent record at Flushing Meadows isn’t very encouraging having failed to get past the third round four times.
In the women’s event the defending champion is Britain’s Emma Raducanu who defeated Leylah Fernandez to win her first major tournament at the age of 18.
As an unseeded player who had to qualifier it was a remarkable achievement that will never be forgotten in the sport.
Defending her title will be a huge test of her character, with the pressure hanging over her of everybody wanting to beat the champion.
After appearing almost unbeatable earlier this year, Iga Swiatek has recently shown signs of being vulnerable. The number one player in the world has lost to Beatriz Haddad Maia and Madison Keys in Canada and Cincinnati.
After going on a 37-match winning streak, she is more than capable of getting back to winning ways again, starting on Monday.
Sim ona Halep has had plenty of Grand Slam success, but not at the US Open. She has only advanced to the semi-finals at Flushing Meadow just once but has recently won the Canadian Open in Toronto.
Other women players who could go deep into the tournament are American Coco Gauff and Caroline Garcia. The 28-year-old Frenchwomen is in peak form coming into the US Open having beaten Swiatek to win the Polish Open and Cincinnati title.
Karolina Pliskova is considered to be one of the finest players on the WTA Tour but has still yet to win a Grand Slam. However, she did reach the final of this event back in 2016 and has made the quarter finals in three of the five years thereafter.
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The 26-year-old left hander defeated Belgium’s David Goffin in a memorable five set thriller on number one court yesterday.
Ninth seed Norrie had to battle hard to get the better of the Belgium after a see saw battle that delighted the number one court crowd. Norrie won 3-6,7-5,2-6,6-3,7-5 in a match that lasted almost three and a half hours.
The Brit will now contest his first ever grand slam semi-final, knowing he is the first British man to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals since Andy Murray in 2016 and first British player since Johanna Konta back in 2017.
He faces Djokovic with a chance to reach a Wimbledon final, however he still has to get past the reigning champion who was taken to five sets in his quarter-final against Italian Jannik Sinner.
The world number one dropped the opening two sets before storming back to win the next three sets and dropping just seven games in a match that lasted a shade over three and a half hours.
In other matches played yesterday, in the ladies singles the number three seed Ons Jabeur lost the opening set to Marie Bouzkova 6-3, before running away with the next two sets 6-1,6-1.
Germany’s Tatjana Maria is through to the semi finals after defeating fellow German Jule Niemier in three sets.4-6,6-2,7-5.
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The Australian came into the match off the back of his controversial and fiery encounter with Stefanos Tsitsipas on Saturday, with the Greek calling his opponent a ‘bully’ after a four-set loss.
Kyrgios called for Tsitsipas to be defaulted after he hit a ball into the crowd on Court No.1, but the match continued and he eventually won 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6, progressing to the fourth round of the competition.
He will now face Cristian Garin in the quarter-finals, having beaten Nakashima 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2.
The early games proved straightforward for both players, with Kyrgios and Nakashima looking comfortable when serving. However, the first set would soon fall to the American. Kyrgios was serving to make it five games all, but soon enough the Aussie was 40-0 down and despite a late point, Nakashima was there to seal the game and subsequently the opening set.
Although Kyrgios appeared to be holding his right shoulder in discomfort throughout periods of the second, it did not deter him from making it one set all. He broke his opponent in the third game and went on to win 6-4, albeit rather gingerly as he took some painkillers for his shoulder pain.
Halfway through the third set, the 27-year-old was tended to by a physio in a medical time-out. He was soon back on though and it went to 6-6, meaning a tiebreaker was required. Nakashima couldn’t hold his opponent off, and Kyrgios took the third set.
However, it soon became two sets all. Nakashima broke in the seventh game and soon took the advantage in the latter stages. Kyrgios was serving to give himself some extra hope, but he threw it away and allowed his opponent to send the match to a fifth and final set.
The Australian sealed an early break after an entertaining deuce at the beginning of the set, before breaking for the second time soon after. At 5-2 Kyrgios was serving for the match, and he eventually sealed the win with a calm forehand volley close to the net.
He will now compete in his first Slam quarter-final for the first time in seven years, with his last outing coming in the 2015 Australian Open.
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]]>Before play started on the centre court there was a parade of former champions as Wimbledon marked 100 years of its Centre Court, along with a musical celebration with Sir Cliff Richard and Freya Ridings performing to the crowd.
After the celebrations had died down it was time to get down to business with Britain’s Heather Watson bidding to get into her first ever grand slam quarter final at Wimbledon.
She was up against Germany’s Jule Niemeier, who is ranked number 97 in the world. It wasn’t to be for Watson who went down to a straight sets loss 6-2, 6-4.
Next up on centre court was the mouth-watering prospect of two young players who look to have a very bright future ahead of them.
Jannik Sinner of Italy was up against the exciting young Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, the number five seed.
In a match that lasted over 3 and a half hours it was the Italian seeded ten that got the better of Alcaraz in four sets.
The final match on centre court saw the number one seed Novak Djokovic face unseeded Tim van Rijthoven with the Serb going through to the quarter finals in four sets 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.
With the defeat of Robson, the last Brit standing at Wimbledon was Cameron Norrie who was up against American Tommy Paul.
Norrie was also hoping to reach the quarter-finals of a grand slam for the first time in his tennis career.
The smiles were put back on the faces of the British contingent of tennis lovers on number one court when Norrie despatched Paul in straight sets 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 to set up a quarter final with Belgium’s David Goffin who knocked out the number 23 seed Frances Tiafoe of America in a five-set thriller that lasted over four and a half hours.
In other matches played ladies number three seed Ons Jabeur defeated Elise Mertens in straight sets, but the number 12 seed Jelena Ostapenko’s Wimbledon is over after being knocked out by unseeded Tatjana Maria of Germany in three sets that lasted a shade over two hours.
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Leicester’s Boulter dropped the first set to Pliskova 6-3 but bounced back to take the next two sets 7-6, 6-4.
Fellow Britons Liam Broady and Heather Watson also earned memorable wins on Thursday to reach the third round.
Wildcard Broady defeated the 12th seed Argentinian Diego Schwartzman 6-2, 4-6, 0-6, 7-6, 6-1 to record his best ever performance at a major.
British number four Watson matched her best Wimbledon singles performance with a 7-5, 6-4 win against China’s Wang Qiang.
There was disappointment for Harriet Dart who won the opening set against eighth seed Jessica Pegula, only for the American to fight back to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Briton’s Jack Draper failed to make it into the next round after suffering a four-set defeat against Australian 19th seed Alex de Minaur.
British wildcard Alastair Gray ranked 288th and making his men’s singles debut at Wimbledon, fell to American 11th seed Taylor Fritz in straight sets.
No problems for the women’s number one seed Iga Swiatek. Despite dropping a set, she booked her place in the next round with a 6-4,4-6 6-3 victory over Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove.
In the men’s event the number two seed Rafa Nadal defeated Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis in four sets.
Unseeded wild boy Nick Kyrgios brushed aside the number 26 seed Filip Krajinovic in an hour and a half with a comfortable straight sets victory.
French girl Harmony Tan who knocked out Serena Williams this week had another fine victory when she got the better of Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.
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British number one Raducanu went down to a straight sets defeat to France’s Carolina Garcia 6-3, 6-3.
After Raducanu’s defeat the centre court crowd were hoping that Murray could give them something to cheer about. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be with the former British number one going down to a four-set defeat to the big serving American John Isner. It was also Murray’s earliest Wimbledon exit after 13 previous attempts where he had always got past the second round.
There was some better news for fans of British tennis when Cameron Norrie the number nine seed defeated Jaume Munar in a match that went the full distance with the Brit having to win the final two sets to get through.
In the ladies singles, Harriet Dart is through to the third round of the tournament after despatching Spaniard Rebeka Masarova 6-1, 6-4.
Not such good news for Ryan Peniston who exited the tournament at the hands of Steve Johnson, with the American winning in straight sets.
Reigning champion Novak Djokovic is in to the third round after defeating Thanasi Kokkinakis in straight sets.
But number three seed Casper Ruud was stunned by Frenchman Ugo Humbert in four sets 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4.
There was a big surprise in the ladies tournament as well where the number two seed Anett Kontaveit was knocked out of the competition by Germany’s Jule Niemeier in straight sets 6-4, 6-0.
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Williams, went down in a marathon match of over three hours, 5-7, 6-1, 6-7 which finished well after 10 pm under the lights and roof on centre court.
No such problems for the number one seed Iga Swiatek who breezed past Jana Fett on centre court, dropping just three games.
Earlier in the day on the main court, the number two seed in the men’s event Rafal Nadal defeated Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo in four sets.
It was another encouraging day for the Brits with a host of names going through to the second round.
Heather Watson started the ball rolling after defeating Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch in a match that was carried over from Monday. Watson eventually getting the better of her opponent 6-2 in the final set.
On court number two, Dan Evans had a straight sets victory over Jason Kubler 6-1, 6-4, 6-3
On an outside court, the in form Ryan Peniston continued his fine form on grass with a straight sets victory over Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen.
Jack Draper was another British winner on the day after a straight sets victory over Zizou Bergs. Draper was pushed all the way by the Belgium, but got the victory 6-4, 6-4, 7-6.
Unknown Alastair Gray from Twickenham was another British player who has progressed to the second round after beating Chun-hsin Tseng in straight sets.
Liam Broady was taken to five sets before getting the better of Slovakian Lukas Klein and with Katie Boulter completing a straight sets victory over Clara Burel of Slovakia, it proved to be the best day British tennis players have ever had at Wimbledon with seven making their way into the second round.
One Brit who lost out was Paul Jubb. The 22-year-old from York was up against the fiery Australian Nick Kyrgios. Jubb eventually losing out in five sets in a close fought match on court three.
After the match, Kyrgios was accused of aiming a spit in the direction of a spectator who had been heckling him all afternoon. The Australian didn’t deny this in his press conference after the match and was also critical of spectators and as well as line judges.
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It wouldn’t be Wimbledon without the traditional rain. However, a small amount of rain fell, but the roof was on centre court which didn’t dampen the spectators who turned up for the opening day of the world’s best tennis major.
Defending men’s champion and number 1 seed Novak Djokovic opened up his defence of the title when he was first up on centre court against Korean Soonwoo Kwon.
Despite dropping the second set, the Serbian progressed into the second round 6-3,3-6,6-3,6-4
Great Britain’s number one lady’s player Emma Raducanu was second up on centre court where she was up against Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck.
Raducanu came into the tournament having had very little practice after pulling out of the recent Nottingham Open event.
The 19-year-old Brit was pushed all the way before defeating Van Uytvanck in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 on her debut on the centre court at Wimbledon.
Next up on a packed centre court was Andy Murray who faced Australian James Duckworth, ranked 74 in the world.
Murray lost a tight opening set 6-4, but reeled of three sets in a row to win in 2 hours and 43 minutes 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
In the ladies Singles event, there was wins for the number three seed Ons Jabeur in straight sets against Swedon’s Mirjam Bjorklundand and the number two seed Anett Kontaveit over Bernarda Pera also in straight sets.
Two more British girls were in action on the opening day, but they both failed to progress to the next round.
Yuriko Miyazaki pushed France’s Caroline Garcia all the way before losing out in a final set tie break.
London’s Jodie Burrage was also knocked out in the first round by Latvian Lesia Tsurenko in straight sets 6-2, 6-3.
It wasn’t all bad news for British tennis, with the number nine seed in the men’s event Cameron Norrie completing a 6-0,7-6, 6-3 win over Spaniard Pablo Andujar.
In other matches played in the opening round of the men’s tournament the number seven seed Hurbert Hurkacz was knocked out. The Pole went two sets down against Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, before recovering to win the next two sets to take the match into a final set tie break. After almost three and a half hours, the Spaniard booked his name into the second round after winning the tie break 10-8.
There was a big scare for the highly thought of 19-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz who eventually got the better of Germany’s Jan Lennard Struff in a marathon match that lasted a shade over four hours.
Alcaraz edged out his opponent in the final set 6-4 to go through to the second round and complete a good day for Spanish tennis.
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This year will also mark the first year the Championships are set to take place for a full duration of 14 days, with play on the middle Sunday added to the permanent schedule for the first time.
The Sunday of the final day of the tournament will also mark the Centre Court Centenary, celebrating 100 years of the iconic venue at its current location on Church Road.
The Men’s Singles event as ever will be hotly contested with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic seeded one and two.
Number two seed Nadal, who after last month’s 14th Roland Garros win, is just one behind Serena Williams with 22 Grand Slam titles to his name.
The Spaniard has already won Wimbledon three times and will be aiming for win number four. He comes into the tournament on the back of some injury issues regarding his foot, but at the weekend he announced he will be playing and is gunning for another title.
Djokovic is another player in the hunt for another Grand Slam singles title after winning Wimbledon last year for the sixth time.
The Serb will be looking to win his fourth consecutive Wimbledon singles title and gain one Slam back on Nadal after a 2022 season that has seen him face issues off the court.
Both players will be looking over their shoulder with the name of Italy’s Matteo Berrettini in their thoughts.
Last years beaten finalist is in the form of his life and last week won the prestigious Queens Club Championships in London and loves playing on grass.
Carlos Alcarez is another young player who is making a big breakthrough in the tennis world, but has played very little tennis on grass.
Polish player Hubert Hurkacz has produced some good results this season, including winning the Halle Open.
The likes of Felix Auger- Aliassime, Casper Rudd and Stefanos Tsitsipas are names that spring to mind who could go far in the tournament.
Home favourite Andy Murray has been in excellent form leading up to Wimbledon., reaching the semi-finals of two grass court events recently in the past two weeks. However, the Brit has recently been struggling with an abdominal injury that forced him out of Queens where he has been a five time champion.
In the women’s event the crowds at SW19 will be awaiting the appearance of Serena Williams in what already appears to be the most open women’s Wimbledon Championships for many a year.
The seven time champion opted for a wild card for this year’s championships. Williams hasn’t played a competitive singles match between last year’s Wimbledon after withdrawing through injury in the first round- and this year’s championships.
She did feature at Eastbourne last week where she teamed up with Ons Jabeur in the doubles event. Could this be the fairy tale year for the return of Williams to land Grand Slam singles title number 24.?
Current defending champion Ash Barty is enjoying retirement, so another name will be engraved on the trophy in two weeks’ time.
As many as six Russians and Belarussians, who would have been seeded, have been denied the chance top compete this year due to the troubles between Russia and Ukraine.
Last year’s US Open runner up Leylah Fernandez from Canada is another player who won’t be appearing due to a stress fracture in her foot.
One name though stands out above everybody else and that is Iga Swiatek. The Worlds current number one made it 35 wins in a row after winning the recent French Open earlier this month.
She hasn’t lost a match since mid-February and has wrapped up no less than six titles in a row on the WTA Tour.
Although she has yet to win a grass court tournament on the main tour, she is a former junior champion in SW19.
American Coco Gauff reached her maiden Grand Slam fibnal in Paris before losing to Swiatek. She has also reached the last 16 at Wimbledon in both her previous appearances.
Ons Jabeur suffered a shock first round exit at Roland Garros, but knows how to perform on grass. She successfully defended her grass court title in Birmingham and last year knocked out Swiatek at Wimbledon before losing at the quarter-final stage.
Latvian Jelena Ostapenka and last years Wimbledon runners up Karolina Pliskova has plenty of grass court experience with the 30-year-old also expected to go well.
Great Britian’s Emma Raducanu has struggled for form since her stunning victory at the US Open last September. Since then she has reached two quarter-finals while losing 14 of her 24 competitive matches.
Twelve months ago Raducanu reached the fourth round stage of Wimbledon as a wild card entry. With the British public getting fully behind her, this may well be the time we see Raducanu back to her best.
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