Federer facing new world order
As Britain continues to celebrate Andy Murray's Wimbledon title,
things aren't going quite as well for Roger Federer.
Federer, who owns a men's record 17 grand slam titles, slumped to
his lowest world ranking in 10 years when the new standings were released
Monday.
The Swiss dropped from third to fifth in the aftermath of his
upset loss in the second round to Sergiy Stakhovsky at Wimbledon, matching the
ranking he last held in June 2003 when he wasn't yet a grand slam winner.
Federer, a month away from his 32nd birthday, responded to the
defeat by entering a pair of smaller clay court tournaments in Europe in a bid
to reverse fortunes.
He is sixth in the calendar-year points standings, with the top
eight earning a berth at the year-end championships in London.
Federer will play at next week's German Tennis Championships in
Hamburg before contesting the Swiss Open in Gstaad the following week.
"I'm really looking forward to playing in front of my home
fans in Gstaad this summer," Federer told his website this month. "I have got a lot of great
memories of the tournament in the mountains of Switzerland."
Federer last played in Gstaad in 2004, winning the event for the
only time. He lost his first four matches there before reaching the final in
2003 a week after his maiden grand slam triumph at Wimbledon.
While Federer frets over his drop in the rankings, man of the
moment Murray is very much on the up.
He has spectacularly recovered -- with the help of coach Ivan
Lendl -- from losing his first four grand slam finals and in the 2011
semifinals at Wimbledon to Rafael Nadal when he was firmly in control.
He has now captured two of the last three grand slam tournaments
he has competed in and replaced Federer as the world's best grass court player,
having also claimed Olympic gold at Wimbledon in 2012 and a Wimbledon warm-up
in London last month.
"Under pressure right now Andy has two majors and a gold
medal," his coach Ivan Lendl told British newspaper the Telegraph as he
reflected on Murray's Wimbledon victory over Novak Djokovic on Sunday.
"Novak is a great player, don't get me wrong. He has had a
phenomenal last 12 months, basically since the start of 2011, so the rankings
look at all of that.
"[But] if somebody has two majors and an Olympic gold medal,
and everybody else has only one major . . ." Lendl added, before tailing
off. "Everybody can make their own opinion on that."
When the Scot downed world No. 1 Djokovic in straight sets in
Sunday's final, it ended a 77-year wait for a British men's singles champion at
tennis' most prestigious tournament.
Murray said Monday that he only had one-hour of sleep after his
victory -- and that he didn't want to go to sleep at all because he thought
when he woke up it would all be a dream.
The Queen was one of those to congratulate Murray and he is being
tipped to receive knighthood.
The Scot's last loss on grass was to Federer in the 2012 Wimbledon
final.
"I didn't always think it was going to happen," said
Murray of his Wimbledon conquest. "I didn't doubt myself so much after
last year's final.
"It was the best I'd recovered from a grand slam loss. Maybe
a couple of years ago when I lost in the semis to Rafa when I was up a set,
maybe a break as well or had break points, and didn't get that, that was a
tough, tough one for me."
And Murray said he doesn't expect his motivation to dip after his
historic fortnight at Wimbledon.
"I hope I don't lose hunger -- I think I should be able to
use this as motivation," said the Scot. "I know what it's like losing
in a Wimbledon final, and I know what it's like winning one. And it's a lot
better winning.
"I just need to make sure I don't get side-tracked by
anything."
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