his career by winning the Wimbledon singles
title.
Swiss legend Federer, who turns 34 in August,
will bid to win his eighth title at SW19 over the
next fortnight – and his 18th Grand Slam.
Federer has won every major honour in tennis,
apart from Olympic singles gold, but has given
few hints he is ready to retire.
Yet like Sir Alex Ferguson, who quit Manchester
United after winning a final Premier League title,
the world No 2 has said he will also want to go
out at the top.
Before his record 63rd consecutive Major
stretching back to the 2000 Australian Open, he
said: “If I closed my eyes to dream of my final
match, it would have to be a final and I would
have to win the title!
interest me. The rankings are the rankings. The
opponent doesn’t matter.
"I can see Wimbledon or the US Open. If I can
choose, I would take Wimbledon. I have the
break and I have the chance to serve it out.
Nothing special - a service winner to finish, that
would do me nicely!”
Federer - seeded second this year - is into the
last 16 again, and next faces 20th seeded
Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut on Centre Court
on Monday.
While his coach Stefan Edberg announced his
retirement at the start of his final season, like
Lleyton Hewitt this year, the Swiss said he has
no plan to retire.
“The more I think about it, the closer I am to
retirement,” he claimed.
Federer, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the
Wimbledon final last year, added: “Professionally,
I dream of living big moments on the tennis
court.
"When I started, I just hope to make a career.
Now it is to make the most of the end of my
career and stay at the top of the rankings to
give me the chance to win tournaments.”
The Swiss won his first Wimbledon title in 2003
by beating Mark Philippoussis and his seventh
by overcoming Andy Murray in 2012 - for his
record 17th Grand Slam.
“The dream was to win Wimbledon or reach the
world No 1 spot,” he admitted. “I never thought I
could be as strong as a Becker, an Edberg, a
Sampras. I dreamed about: “Game, set and
match, I won Wimbledon and I was on my
knees”. But I never thought it could be a reality.
"And, honestly, I never thought I could go so far.
When I was 17 or 18, I saw that I was managing
to win sets against professional players. I said
to myself that maybe I wasn’t that far off.”
In his “crazy” life, Federer said he longed for
“just having a bit more time”.
But he said if he could have any shot, the player
with the most elegant backhand in history said
he would want a double-handed backhand.
“For me, it is the impossible shot,” he said. "It
hurts me on the left side of my chest. It is just
not natural for me. I couldn’t get two in the
court.
"It fascinates me to see how the players do it. I
dream of having his backhand, but I know that it
is not possible. I would really like to have
Agassi’s double-handed backhand.”
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