Federer: Pressure’s off at Olympics

 

Originally published on: 24/07/12 00:00

The 30-year-old Swiss will go into the Olympic tournament, which begins at the All England Club on Saturday, as the Wimbledon champion and as the reigning doubles champion, having won gold alongside Stanislas Wawrinka four years ago.

Federer said: “Right after Beijing I thought: ‘It’s going to be incredible to be playing the Olympics at Wimbledon.’ That’s how I feel right now, but I realised that having an Olympic gold in Beijing was going to take a lot of pressure off me in London.

“I thought it was going to increase with people talking about it because it’s one of the three big goals of the season – and maybe No.1 potentially. Maybe you can put it No.1 because it is so difficult to achieve in matches over the best of three sets, which is something we are not used to.

“I’ve only played four Olympics in my life and you don’t get that many chances, but I have played 50 to 60 Slams in my career and so it feels very different. But it doesn’t change the fact that I hope I can do so, so well here at the Olympics.”

Having regained both the Wimbledon title and the world No.1 ranking, Federer is clearly in the best form of all the leading players. “If you’re on fire and able to win Wimbledon you’re obviously super-confident for the Olympics,” he said.

“I’d love an Olympic gold. Everyone knows that. I’ve had amazing experiences at all the Olympics, the last three that I’ve played. This is a big one. I’m happy that it happens in our lifetime to be quite honest and for me, as a player, I’m still in my prime to actually have a shot not only to play it but to do well. That combination drives me a lot.”

Now get the WORLD’S BEST TENNIS MAGAZINE here