I never stopped believing

What can be said about Federer that hasn't already? He is pure, unadulterated class. The fact he also appears to be a very self-effacing and humble individual, despite all his immense achievements, is really the measure of the man. Frankly, he puts countless other supposed sports stars to state of being questioned!!

I hope that the people that usually say Federer should retire are ashamed of themselves right now!

This man is the reason why tennis has become my favourite sport, sometimes I just feel short of superlatives and adjectives to describe him, so I better don't use any of them now ..

Only one man conquered Roger from beginning till end .. i.e. Nadal ... but still, Nadal didn't managed to achieve so many other things that Roger achieved

... he is truly the GOAT with an only scar in his achievements in terms of Nadal .... just like moon has a scar too .... maybe it was necessary for motivation to become better and better.

Now, Federer and I have similiar dreams,Singles Golden Medal in London, SW19 ..

One thing about Federer's record is that it never tells the whole story. The style he plays is even more sublime than his slam count. And while someone may possibly exceed Fed's slam tally....I am pretty certain his tennis beauty will never be beaten.

his style...absolute beauty. thats the thing I fear. I am afraid tennis will loose half of its beauty when this great man retires...!!

When is Greatness achieved

16 Grand Slam Single Titles.
6 ATP Tour Finals Titles.
20 ATP Masters 1000 Titels.
237 Continous Weeks at n.1 of ATP rankings.
285 Total Weeks at n.1 ATP rankings.
1 of 7 players to hold Career Grand Slam title.
5 or more times Finalist in each Grand Slam Tournament.
24 total Grand Slam Finals.
10 Grand Slam finals in a row.
23 Consecutive Grand Slam Semi-Finals.
Olympic Gold Medal.
8 Years consecutively in top 2 rankings.
Best Player of the year for 9 consecutive years.
Stephan Edberg Sportmanship Award for 7 consecutive years.
Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for 4 consecutive years.
N.1 on list of 100 greatest Tennis Players of All Times.
Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year Award.
2nd Most Trusted and Respected person in the world behind Nelson Mandela.

PEOPLE MAY SAY WHATEVER THEY WANT BUT WIN OR LOSE WE CAN ONLY FEEL PROUD OF HAVING WITNESSED THE DEFINITION OF GREATNESS

future following federer--deluding djoker

Prior to the start of Wimbledon 2012, I predicted that an early exit for Nadal is overdue. But, even I did not expect him to so be eliminated this early.

Now, I wish to say that Djokovic has reached the Final of the last 4 Grand Slam events (Wimbledon & US Open 2011, Australian Open and French Open 2012) and as per the law of average, it is time for him to fail to reach the Final now. Further, Djokovic won their last 2 meetings (one by accident - USO 2011) and again as per law of average, he is bound to lose to Federer now. Though I am a staunch Federer fan, I admit that it will be a tough match for Federer. But, he has the will and talent to clinch the match with tough battle.

I will give a title for the forthcoming Semi-Final between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic : A match between EGO AND EAGER. Djokovic should have EGO as the current world # 1 & Defending Champion and Federer must be EAGER to regain the World # 1 and for claiming his 17th Major title.

Come On Roger! Go grab it!

Should Federer beat Djokovic and go onto lift his 17th major trophy he will regain No. 1 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings on Monday. Federer has been World No. 1 for 285 weeks, one week shy of all-time record-holder Pete Sampras on 286 weeks.

Here's a look at their statistics:

Player	Djokovic	Federer
Age	25	30
South African Airways ATP Ranking	1	3
Grand Slam Titles (Runner-up)	5 (3)	16 (7)
2012 Singles Record	41-6	44-6
Wimbledon Record	32-6	64-7

With help from IBM, the official statistics provider of The Championships, here is how Djokovic and Federer have fared in their five matches en route to the Wimbledon semi-finals.

Player	Djokovic	Federer
Aces (Double Faults)	44 (10)	47 (8)
Unreturned Serves	151/410	175/449
First Serves In	69%	67%
First Serve Points Won	79%	79%
Second Serve Points Won	58%	58%
Service Games Won/Lost	68/4	73/6
Average Serves (MPH) First/Second	119/98	114/98
Returns In	74%	73%
Break Points Won	26/51	31/66
Winners - Forehand/Backhand	69/45	68/29
Unforced Errors - Forehand/Backhand	33/29	30/34
Serve & Volley Points Won	8/11	30/44
Total Net Points Won	88/135	126/169
Baseline Points Won	251/435	235/445
Time On Court	9:38	9:50

src:worldtour

Spirit of Wimbledon

Wimbledon is a tournament that thrives on rivalries. Roger Federer and his challengers. Discover the last of a four-part documentary series about the spirit of Wimbledon. Discover more about Wimbledon on http://www.wimbledon.com

Federer fifth for Forbes

Forbes Magazine has identified Roger Federer as the fifth highest paid athlete in the world. Forbes estimated that Federer earned $52.7m in total earnings in the past year, with $45m of that coming from endorsements.

“Federer has the most impressive endorsement portfolio in sports, with nine sponsors that collectively pay him more than $30 million annually, including long-term deals with Nike, Rolex, Wilson and Credit Suisse,” writes Forbes.

“He also commands more than $1 million per exhibition event. Federer is widely perceived as the greatest tennis player ever. He holds the records for most singles Grand Slam wins (16) and career prize money ($71 million). He appeared in a staggering 18 out of 19 Grand Slam finals between 2005 and 2010.”

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal is 16th in the Forbes list with an estimated $33.2 million in earnings, including $25 million in endorsements.

Ahead of the 30-year-old Federer in the list of the World’s 100 Highest-Paid Athletes, are No. 1 Floyd Mayweather (total earnings: $85m), No. 2 Manny Pacquiao ($62m), No. 3 Tiger Woods ($59.4m) and No. 4 LeBron James ($53m).

Federer in for no 1

Wimbledon is shaping as a battleground for the World No. 1 ranking, with Novak Djokovic ,Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer all in contention to hold top spot after The Championships.

Djokovic, who has held the No. 1 South African Airways ATP Ranking since July 4, 2011 after winning his first Wimbledon title, must reach the final to ensure that he remains ahead of his rivals. Because of his stunning start to the 2011 season, when Djokovic headed into Wimbledon with a 41-1 match record, the Serb has had a mountain of points to defend during the first half of this year. Although he defended his Australian Open and Sony Open Tennistitles, those have been Djokovic’s only triumphs of the season; in 2011 he won seven crowns during the same period.

Federer can retake No. 1 if he wins the Wimbledon title and Djokovic does not advance beyond the semi-finals. It has been more than two years Roland Garros 2009) since Federer last held top dog status on the ATP World Tour. He enjoyed a 48-week run at World No. 1 the last time, taking the top ranking back from Nadal following his 2009 triumph. He first ascended to No. 1 on February 2004 and held the position for a record 237 consecutive weeks. All up, the Swiss has held the No. 1 ranking for 285 weeks during his career, just one week shy of Pete Sampras all-time record of 286 weeks.

Nadal, who ceded the No. 1 ranking to Djokovic when he lost the Wimbledon final last year, can reclaim top spot if he wins The Championships for a third time and the Serb does not go beyond the quarter-finals.

Federer has vaulted back into contention for No. 1 after a strong finish to last season and an impressive 2012 campaign. Last year Federer lost to Djokovic in the semi-finals of US Open (after holding two match points) and won his last three tournaments of the year: Basel, The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title in Paris and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. In his nine tournaments this year Federer has failed to reach the semi-finals or better only once (Miami) and has won four events: ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles in Indian Wells and Madrid, and ATP World Tour 500 titles in Rotterdam and Dubai.

The table below shows how many South African Airways ATP Rankings points each player will have after 2012 based on which round he reaches.

	WIN	FINAL	SF	QF
Djokovic	12280	11480	11000	10640
Nadal	10860	10060	9580	9220
Federer	11075	10275	9795	9435
Murray	8260	7460	6980	6620

src:atpworldtour.com

Haas prevents Federer's 7th Halle

Tommy Haas defeated second seedRoger Federer 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to win Gerry Weber Open, Halle on Sunday.

It was Gerry Weber Open record champion Federer who made the better start. Haas, who like his Swiss opponent had only had his serve broken once on the way to the final, lost his very first service game, but at 3-1 down, he started to find his way into the match. In the fifth game, he crowned his comeback by breaking back to make it 3-3, and from that moment on, he was the most aggressive player. Haas to k more risks while the World Rankings number three committed more and more unenforced errors and had to defend the first two set points. The decision was then made in a tie break when Haas, was forced onto the back foot again, but after another rousing comeback, he converted his fourth set point.

Federer tried to raise the tempo in the second set. In the second game, the Swiss failed to take two break points and then he struggled more on his own serve than the German. The logical conclusion was that Haas broke to make it 5-4 at the end of one of the most spectacular rallies. Subsequently, the Wimbledon semi-finalist from 2009 held his nerve, served with the same consistency and benefited from one of the many unenforced errors from Federer to win his first match point. But Federer was a fair loser.

After claiming the title Haas said: "This has been one of the best weeks of my career, but I reckon I won't really appreciate what's happened until this evening.

"If someone had said to me beforehand that I was going to beat Roger Federer, probably the best player of all time, I would have thought they were mad!"

Federer was magnanimous in defeat, saying: "Tommy has performed well throughout, I'm thrilled for him. I knew that it would be a tough match. To begin with, I wasted a few chances, but it was still a great week for me. Tommy was the better player after that and he deserves this win, truly."

Federer has already enjoyed a memorable week at the German town in North Rhine-Westphalia after the main pathway up to the tennis stadium was named after him.

The 16-times grand slam champion is unlikely to be too concerned about failing to clear the final hurdle here as he would have fine-tuned his game for Wimbledon during the four matches he has played here.

Source: Reuters and Gerry Weber Open