Tennis latest; Roger Federer positive about Olympic matches in London
The tennis event at the Olympic Games will receive the publicity it deserves in 2012 when the games will be staged in London, says the Swiss tennis maestro Roger Federer on Thursday.
Tennis was re-introduced to the Olympic Games at the 1988 edition in Seoul, however it does not receive anywhere near the recognition of other sports such as swimming and athletics.
The 29-year-old Roger Federer who made his debut on the ATP World Tour back in 2002 admitted on Thursday that a venue shift at Wimbledon will definitely give the unheralded tennis competition the fanfare it rightly deserves.
Roger, a winner at the All England Club six times in a glittering professional life, now cannot wait for his opportunity to bag a singles gold medal on the grassy court of Wimbledon, after having fallen short in his three previous
attempts at the Olympic Games.
While talking to the reporters at a hotel in London, the sixteen time Grand Slam champion, Roger Federer reflected, "The beauty of it being at Wimbledon is huge for the world of tennis. At the Olympics, the focus is on swimming
and athletics and tennis has been forgotten a little bit. At the last couple of Olympics, we have seen the best players are always playing. Rafael Nadal winning the singles in Beijing, me winning the doubles over there, that was great news for tennis in an
Olympic spirit.”
In spite of the fact that the 29-year-old Swiss superstar was tired after speaking for over two hours about the elite eight man field in London, Federer was eager to discuss the advantages of conducting the Olympic tennis event
on such an iconic stage, particularly since it will be held only three weeks after the grass court Grand Slam tournament at the All England Club.
"In London, with the heritage we have for tennis through Wimbledon, it is probably going to be the biggest tennis Olympics we are going to have. We do not have to travel an extra thousands of miles to get to the venue as we travel
enough. Before you had some guys who did not like playing on grass at all so they would just skip it. However now it is different as everybody today plays on grass,” added the Fed Express, who was reduced to tears after surprisingly capturing a doubles gold
back in 2008.
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