No retirement for Swiss tennis legend

Federer celebrates after his win and vows to keep on playing

(Keystone)

It was all Roger Federer in the Swiss news media after his historic win at Wimbledon – and fans can look forward to seeing the tennis great keep playing.

"Federer is immortal at Wimbledon,” his hometown newspaper, the Basler Zeitung, headlined. Federer shed “tears of emotion” after his victory, newspaper Tages-Anzeiger declared. And Federer hasn’t finished writing his own legendary story, newspaper Le Matin emphasised, adding: “Phenomenal!”

On Sunday, after clinching his record-breaking eighth Wimbledon title and his 19th grand slam title by beating an injured Marin Cilic in straight sets, the Swiss champion expressed gratitude for his health – and said he would keep on competing.

“I’ve got to take more time off, I don’t know,” he joked about his recovery from injuries last year. “I’m going to be gone again for the next six months. Better than winning this trophy is being healthy. I’m feeling great. The tournament I’ve played, not dropping a set, it’s magical. It’s too much. It’s disbelief that I can achieve such heights.”

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Strong as ever

At 35, Federer became the oldest men’s Wimbledon champion. The previous record was held by Arthur Ashe, who won at 31 in 1975.

Federer will be 36 next month. He wasn’t the oldest person to win a grand slam title in the Open Era (post-1968): That was Ken Rosewall, who was 37 in 1972. But Federer became only the second person to win at Wimbledon without dropping a set, after Bjorn Borg in 1976. 

It also was Federer’s 11th Wimbledon final, a record that he hopes to keep adding to with at least one more final. He said he wasn’t sure that he was going to get back to Wimbledon after last year.

“I kept on believing and dreaming and here I am today with the eighth. It’s fantastic,” he added. “I hope I can come back next year to try to defend the title.”

Before Sunday, Federer and Pete Sampras had been tied for seven Wimbledon trophies. And with his 19th grand slam title, Federer pulled even further away from second-place Rafael Nadal, who has 15.

He won’t return to No. 1 in the world rankings immediately, although he could well do so later in the year.

swissinfo.ch and agencies/jmh and ts