Federer unable to rest on his laurels after Wimbledon win
WIMBLEDON champion Roger Federer has admitted his 15th grand slam title left him so excited he could not sleep, but insisted it failed to take any of the sheen off his record-breaking feat.
Federer overcame American Andy Roddick in Sunday’s marathon five-set men’s singles final, eclipsing Pete Sampras as the most successful player of all time in the process.
But despite needing a gruelling 77 games to claim his sixth title at the All England Club, the 27-year-old revealed he struggled to get any rest the night after the match.
“It’s hard to switch off,” Federer said yesterday. “I want to see the match point again, I want to read something about what the fans saw, how the media saw it. I had about two hours sleep, but it doesn’t matter. I still feel great.”
Sixth seed Roddick won the sympathy of Centre Court, his serve being broken only once in the entire match, as Federer eventually took the epic final set 16-14.
And the Swiss world No1 said his own reserved reaction had been out of his respect for his opponent’s heartbreak.
“I felt like it was such a gruelling match, everybody was tired and felt for Andy so I didn’t want to make a drama about it,” he added. “But I knew the importance and that it was one of the greatest moments in my tennis career.”