Federer: It_Ñés nice to see how driven Serena is today

 

Originally published on: 24/06/13 00:00

As is tradition, Federer, who will be bidding for his eighth Wimbledon crown, will open up play on Centre Court today when he takes on Romanian world No.48 Victor Hanescu in the first round.

“You feel really unique, clearly, because you are the one opening the court,” said the world No.3, who is in the same half of the draw as both Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray. “As much as there is pressure and you don’t want to lose, I also enjoy it because it’s something very, very special for a tennis player.”

Federer also took time in his pre-tournament press conference to compliment his counterpart in the women’s game, Serena Williams, who will open up Centre Court play on Tuesday against Mandy Minella of Luxembourg.

“She’s clearly a different type of player than how the past generation of players were in the sport,” said Federer of Williams. “In the women’s game, it’s even more dramatic the change that’s happened, how it’s all gone towards power playing, hitting the ball hard, all from the baseline.

“[Serena’s] serve is better than anybody’s in the world, right now anyway. But I’m just happy to see her still playing. Both sisters. Not just Serena but also Venus.

“For a while we all thought there were just going to fade away, lose interest, and that would be it and they would be amazing players,” he added. “But I think now she’s really playing for being one of the best in the world of all time. I think it’s nice to see how driven she is today to be successful, cause I think that’s how you want to be as an athlete. You want to have no regrets.

“It seems like that’s what she’s doing right now, so I’m very impressed by her somewhat comeback, if you like.”

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