One of the projects is to remember the 101 victories of Roger Federer in the cathedral of tennis in the last two decades, starting in 2001. The 1998 junior champion suffered a first-round exit in 1999 and 2000 at the senior level, rebounding in 2001 and beating Christophe Rochus 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in a quick 66 minutes for the first success in the All England Club. In the second round, the Swiss took down another Belgian Xavier Malisse, having to dig deep in a 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3 victory after two and a half hours of fast tennis. and fluid on both sides. Malisse won ten more points than Federer, but it wasn’t for him, converting just four of massive 26 break chances and suffering five stoppages from eight chances offered to the Swiss who started it all in the decider and advanced to the third round. Despite winning the first two sets, Roger was unhappy with his play, facing too many break chances and losing ground from the baseline entirely in sets three and four to get Xavier back into contention. “I think I was a bit lucky in the first set after saving a lot of break points; I don’t know how many, but I know it was a lot.” He had a chance to win the second set, and he wasn’t happy with my game even after forging a big advantage. I think I can play much better than today; It was a battle in the end, and I just fought my way out. Otherwise, I missed out on a lot of easy volleys and shots that I don’t usually miss. I was not happy with my game; It irritated me the whole long match. I do not know why; Maybe a little pressure. I’m excited to finish because I felt terrible when I had a break in the fifth set. I was scared; you can say that because the Championship was almost over for me. I am pleased to give myself a chance now in the third round.”
Federer still feels like a player
Patrick Mouratoglou delved deep into the GOAT discourse by attempting to break down the numbers of the Big-3. “Novak is the youngest of the three and is in great physical condition. So he has a chance of playing at the highest level for a few more years, however, he might be unable to compete at the next two Slams – at the US Open and the Australian Open – means his next shot at a title may be in Rafa’s house at the French Open next year. Roger Federer turns 41 soon and is planning to return to competition at the Laver Cup and the Swiss Indoors in Basel. It will be incredible to see him back on court but to see him win another Major is highly unlikely.”