Hunt for titles won't end after claiming the elusive French Open, warns Roger Federer
Hunt for titles won't end after claiming the elusive French Open, warns Roger FedererRoger Federer has issued an ominous warning to his rivals by insisting his appetite for honours has not diminished now he has finally landed the elusive French Open title.
|
|
Roger Federer kisses the French Open trophy in front of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris yesterday. PIC/AFP |
Federer is being labelled by many as the greatest player of all time after completing the career Grand Slam and moving level with Pete Sampras on a record 14 Major titles with his straight-sets win over Robin Soderling in yesterday's Roland Garros final.
The Swiss, 27, can surpass Sampras by winning Wimbledon, which starts in a fortnight's time, for a sixth time in his career.
But despite achieving so much over the past six years, Federer is yearning for yet more titles.
"I've always said it doesn't matter when I retire, I'll be at peace," he said.
"I can walk away from this game tomorrow but I choose not to because I love it too much.
"It hasn't once entered my mind yet that I want to retire. My life is in great shape right now."
With question marks hanging over the state of arch rival Rafael Nadal's knees, a buoyant Federer could even be on the cusp of a new period of dominance.
He has a new-found belief in his game as well as immense satisfaction in his private life as a result of his recent marriage to long-time girlfriend Mirka and the imminent arrival of a first child.
Taking a month and a half off after his emotional and heartbreaking defeat to Nadal in Melbourne in order to fully cure a nagging back problem has really done the trick.
"People talked about me having lost my grip," Federer said. To some degree I guess it's true, because I lost my number one ranking. But I didn't fall out of the top 10 or the top 1000. I still played very consistently, especially at grand-slam level, and my record shows it.
"I had issues we all know what they were but people sometimes don't give you time to let them heal or figure them out.
"I always believed in my chances of winning here in Paris, or any grand slam. It's really for these reasons that I tried to keep myself fit.
"That was also the reason why I took six weeks off. Let everything heal and let everything settle, and then come back very strong. I'm very, very happy right now."
Wimbledon 2009 has Federer's name written all over it but his success at Roland Garros will have taken a lot out of him.
He admitted the two weeks of will-he-won't-he speculation brought on overwhelming pressure and there was probably as much relief as happiness when he sank to his knees after Soderling netted a return on match point to hand the Swiss a 6-1 7-6 (7/1) 6-4 win.
