Roger Federer and Wimbledon have a love story for the ages in the world of tennis. It was at the All England Club where Federer won his first-ever Grand Slam title, back in 2003. And to celebrate his record 8 Grand Slam wins, the Swiss maestro will be honoured at SW19 on Tuesday. A short film is set to be shown before the start of the day’s play with Federer being in the stands.
Federer will be present but the event will miss Serena Williams on Tuesday. Williams was also invited but would not be in London as she is expecting her second child with her husband, Alexis Ohanian. Yet, the star power at Wimbledon is all set to rise from Day 2 itself, something not seen in the previous years, making the 2023 edition historic already.
Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas might play under the watchful eyes of Roger Federer
While Federer will be honoured at the iconic Centre Court, it is a huge possibility that he would be requested to watch the men’s singles Round 1 match between World No.90 Dominic Thiem and World No.5 Stefanos Tsitsipas on Court No.2. Thiem is aiming to make a grand comeback on the ATP Tour, after facing severe challenges in the last 2 years such as injuries and poor form.
Remarkably, the Austrian has not made it past the first round of any Grand Slam since his US Open win in 2020. What would be a greater worry for him and his supporters is that he has not played the second round of the Wimbledon Championships either, since 2017. It has been a topsy-turvy ride for Thiem in the last 3 years, having been in the top 10 and then having a freefall to nearly World No.300. It is only since the last year that with some quarterfinal and semifinal appearances, Thiem has managed to get back in top 100.
Even though Thiem leads the head-to-head battle against Tsitsipas by 5-4, the latter could well be the overwhelming favourite to win on Tuesday. The Greek star has warmed up for the Wimbledon 2023 with Round of 16 appearances in the grass courts of Stuttgart and Halle recently. While undoubtedly, Stefanos Tsitsipas has been consistent on clay and hard courts, it is his grass game that has come under the scanner.
It is worth noting that he has had 5 appearances so far at Wimbledon since his professional in the men’s singles event in 2017. However, out of those five, Tsitsipas has been knocked out on 3 of those instances in the first round itself, i.e. in 2017, 2019 and 2021. His best performance at the Wimbledon so far is reaching the Round of 16 in 2018. Last year, he was beaten in the Round of 32 by Australia’s Nick Kyrgios in an ill-tempered clash, with the latter going to make it to the Final against Novak Djokovic.
Roger Federer makes Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas go in awe
The Swiss superstar has an aura about him on and off the court and Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas have openly talked about his stardom. In an interview with Tennis World USA, Thiem opened up about looking to imitate Roger Federer in his childhood, so much so that he ended up with a one-handed backhand only because of him. He also revealed how Federer ‘nearly killed him’ in one of the matches they played against each other, because of his overall dominance in that match, which made Thiem physically exhausted after losing to him.
While Stefanos Tsitsipas has often called Roger Federer ‘unreal’ and claims that one major career advice he gave him is to ‘Mix things up a little always’, in an interview with Tennis Majors. It means that a player should always have a ‘improvement’ mindset and a forward-thinking approach while playing the game since opponents are very intelligent to pick up on any weaknesses, which might make strategies outdated. Tsitsipas had also paid tribute to Federer on social media on his retirement, calling him ‘unstoppable’.
Perhaps, Federer could be someone they need to look up to the most if they need to win the Round of 128 clash, scheduled to start at 6 AM EST. In a match of two big talents who have disappointed on grass, fortunately at least one will end up as a winner with tennis royalty around to cheer on for them.
