‘Did Roger Federer enjoy Wimbledon or not? Only he can…’, says top coach



'Did Roger Federer enjoy Wimbledon or not? Only he can...', says top coach

Since their first meeting in 1999, Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt had built a great rivalry that would span 15 years and 27 games, with 18 wins for Roger and nine for Lleyton. The Australian had won seven of the first nine meetings until 2003 when Roger took over, scoring 15 consecutive victories between 2004-2010 and dominating the most significant Majors, Masters 1000 and Masters Cup scene, including three finals.

All of that changed at Halle 2010 when Lleyton scored his first win over Roger in seven years, coming from a set down for a 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 win in two hours and 22 minutes and lifting the 28th ATP title. It marked Roger’s first loss in Halle after 29 consecutive victories, without losing in one of his favorite tournaments since the 2002 semi-final.

It was just the Swiss’s second failure on his beloved grass since 2003 after the epic 2008 Wimbledon final. , winning 76 of the last 77 matches on the green surface before this loss against Lleyton. Federer had 13 aces, but Hewitt found a way to neutralize the opponent’s first serve and create nine break chances, converting two to keep in touch with Roger, who had ten break chances and took advantage of two.

The Australian defended his second serve more efficiently to emerge as a deserved winner, taking eight points more than Federer to cross the finish line ahead of him. The Swiss had a slight advantage in the shortest points by up to four shots thanks to those service winners but was outmatched in the more extended rallies, with Lleyton as the dominant figure in the mid-distance exchanges between five and eight shots and those who arrived.

to the tenth stroke.

Gunthardt speaks about Roger Federer

In a recent interview with Simon Graf of Tagesanzeigher.ch, player-turned-coach Heinz Gunthardt weighed in on Roger Federer’s run at Wimbledon this year. « Given his preparation, the quarter-final is a good result, » Gunthardt said.

« But Wimbledon was not a step forward after Paris. He already had that level there. In Doha and Paris, he played with a completely different mindset, loosely. He clearly said that this was (his) only preparation, that it would only really count in Wimbledon.

And then Wimbledon started and he felt the pressure, » he added. Gunthardt believes the nature of the loss to Hurkacz would no doubt have made an impression on Federer. Steffi Graf’s former coach believes the most important question for Federer to answer is whether or not he enjoyed his Wimbledon experience this year.

« How he felt against Hurkacz in the third set, at his favourite tournament, in front of his audience, that he didn’t know how to win a point anymore, that certainly leaves its mark on him, » he said. « The big question is: Did he enjoy Wimbledon or not? Only he can say that. »

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