'It just shows how great Roger Federer is', says ATP star

Swiss teacher Roger Federer celebrated his 40th birthday yesterday. Naturally, the entire tennis world wished him with the kindest words. However, doubles legend Patrick McEnroe decided to use an incredible stat from Federer to start another debate against the latter's archrivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. In particular, the big three of tennis now have 20 Grand Slam titles each. Although Nadal and Djokovic are still their age on their side, Federer has an exceptional age achievement. Brother of American legend John McEnroe, Patrick didn't go for the traditional 'Happy Birthday'. Instead, he praised the tennis master for a statistic that magnified his dominance in the sport. "At 40, Roger Federer is still ranked in the top 10 in the world," Patrick tweeted. "I wonder what the ranking of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will be at that age." Also, at 40, the Basel-born is still eager to compete with the best players in the world in the most important tournaments. Therefore, along with the consistency of him from another world, Federer's passion for tennis might also not be repeated.

Rublev on Roger Federer

Andrey Rublev has admitted that he could not quite believe Roger Federer managed to make the quarterfinals of Wimbledon last month despite playing barely any tennis for more than a year. "He's still playing, still winning great matches after surgery without really playing many tournaments," Rublev said. "I mean, since he stopped last year, after Australia, I think, if I'm not wrong, he played only I think Doha, Roland Garros, and then he is quarterfinal at Wimbledon. So it's something unreal, to not play for more than one year and play only two tournaments and before Wimbledon, nothing and straight to play Wimbledon," added the Russian. "It just shows how great he is." Andrey Rublev won the gold medal in the mixed doubles event at the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics. "I mean, first of all, to win a gold medal for country is something that you can only dream about," Rublev said. "Even when you were a kid, everybody's following Olympic Games." Reflecting on his season so far, Roger began competing in Doha but suffered an early-round exit. After that, he was noticed in Geneva but had a similar fate, losing in the opening round. Next up at the French Open, he made it to the second week but pulled out before his fourth-round match as he was lacking match fitness. At the Wimbledon Championships, he lost in the quarterfinal, which was a letdown for him. Fans will hope to see him compete during the matches at the US Open. 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3AzDhQZ