Roger Federer glad to see Rafael Nadal on the sidelines at Wimbledon – Tennis News
Former world number one, Roger Federer, was happy to witness an upset in the second round of the Wimbledon Championships when the Czech star, Lukas Rosol, stunned the reigning French Open Champion, Rafael Nadal, in an epic five-setter.
Federer was not glad at the loss of the Spanish top ranked tennis icon. It was the gesture that made him feel that upsets can happen these days as well. He stated, “This is not against Rafa, but it was nice to see it's still possible.
I think 15 years ago you had matches like this so much more often on the faster surfaces, [where] a guy could catch fire and just run through you. Today it's virtually impossible so it was just amazing to see that it was possible.”
Following day, the Swiss Maestro was under the cosh; two sets down to another Czech star icon, Radek Stepanek. However, he recovered tremendously well to go through to the next round; won the match 4-6 6-7(3) 6-2 7-6(6) 6-1. It
was a staggering comeback from the legendary tennis professional who has been criticised for his lack of stamina in a five-setter contest. However, he proved everyone wrong by digging deep into the match and forcing his rival out of the competition.
Adding on to his comments about Rosol’s emphatic triumph, Federer said, “Okay, he [Rosol] didn't play like that for five sets, but in the fifth it was just a joke. I couldn't believe that he pulled it off the way he did. Of course
I do feel bad for Rafa because it's a tough loss." It is always good to see an upset occurring in a major tournament. It creates a lot of hypes and gives an opportunity to player like Nadal to improve his game with a new experience.
Nadal is definitely not the best player when he is playing on the grass courts. He struggled in the warm-up tournament at Halle as well. However, it is a always a good learning curve and the 25-year-old Spaniard will learn a lot
of new things from this early exit at the All England Club, London.
Federer bounced back with the help of his experience but Nadal couldn’t. This is something that the Spaniard needs to learn; utilizing the experience when the things aren’t going in his favour. Next up for the Swiss legend is Xavier
Malisse of Belgium. Federer has an opportunity to lead the world rankings with another Grand Slam Championship title at Wimbledon.
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