Philippoussis: 'I expected to win 2003 Wimbledon final over Roger Federer'
In an interview to The Telegraph, the former world No. 8 Mark Philippoussis recalled his 2003 Wimbledon final loss to Roger Federer. The Swiss, who was almost 22 years old at the time, prevailed in straight sets to win his maiden Grand Slam title. The result surprised Philippoussis.
"To be quite honest with you, I expected to win that match", the Australian admitted. "Grass was my favourite surface, and I’d played him a couple of months earlier in Hamburg and beaten him in the round of 16. He’d won the tournament there the year before and already had a growing reputation. The grass was my surface and even though he was seeded four and I wasn’t seeded, I knew what I was capable of on a court that quick."
From that matc,h Federer went on to play 29 more Major finals winning 19 of them. The 37-year-old won his historical eighth Wimbledon title in 2017. Philippoussis added: "I was coming back from injury, felt strong, and had played a lot of tennis with a couple of five-set matches. I had five-setters against Andre Agassi and then Alexander Popp back to back, and quite a few hours on the court. But when it came to the final against Federer that first set tie-break was everything. If I'd won it I would have had all the momentum. Federer at that time was still incredibly talented and we all knew what he was capable of, but he wasn’t the Federer mentally he is now when even if he’s two sets to love down you know he’s still in there. Get the first set and it’s a different story with the momentum. It was huge not to win the first set."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2u9Oisl
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