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Spaniards eye semi-final places in Wimbledon

Spain is hoping for a strong Spanish presence in the upcoming men's Wimbledon semi-finals with both David Ferrer and Fernando Verdasco playing in the tournament's quarter finals on Wednesday.

Published: 3 July 2013 10:22 CEST

Spaniards eye semi-final places in Wimbledon

Spain's Fernando Verdasco celebrates beating France's Kenny De Schepper during their fourth round men's singles clash at Wimbledon. Photo: Glyn Kirk/AFP

Fourth-seed Ferrer will face off against Argentinian eighth seed Juan Martín del Potro for a spot in the tournament's semi-finals.

Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam tournament in which the man from Alicante hasn't reached that milestone.

"It's an extra motivation," Ferrer — who will officially hold the world number three ranking as of Monday — was quoted as saying in Spanish daily 20minutos.

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World number 54 Verdasco, meanwhile, is set for a tough duel with home favourite and world number two, the Scot Andy Murray.

Armed with a new trainer in Ricardo Sánchez, the Madrid local will be hoping to revive a career which has seen something of a slump since 2009 when he reached his highest world ranking of seventh place.

The matches will be played 2pm onwards.

Spain's other male tennis ace Rafa Nadal was knocked out in the first round of the 2013 Wimbledon tournament by rank outsider and world number 135 Steve Darcis of Belgium.

The country's top female player, 18th ranked Carla Suarez Navarro, saw her exit in the fourth round at the hands of Czech world number eight Petra Kvitova.

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Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?

Is it the end of the line for Roger? Photo: Martin BUREAU / AFP

The 20-time Grand Slam winner announced on Wednesday that he would be sidelined until 2021 after his second operation in a matter of months.

Federer remains upbeat, tweeting: “I plan to take the necessary time to be 100 percent ready to play at my highest level.”

In some ways 2020 is a good season to miss after the coronavirus ravaged the tennis schedule. Writing Federer off in the past has proved dangerous.

He returned from a six-month injury lay-off to claim the Australian Open in 2017, winning his eighth Wimbledon crown later that year.

But he will be 40 in 2021 and is now heading into uncharted territory.

Despite his groaning trophy cabinet, there are two factors that will motivate Federer to keep going — the risk of losing his grip on the men's Grand Slam title record and a missing Olympics singles gold medal.

Rafael Nadal has 19 majors, just one shy of Federer's mark and Djokovic has 17.

Spain's Nadal will be fancied to draw level with Federer at the French Open, rescheduled for September, while few would bet against Djokovic winning in New York weeks earlier.

In April, Federer said he was “devastated” when Wimbledon was cancelled for the first time since World War II. Last year he fell agonisingly short at the All England Club, failing to convert two championship points on his own serve against Djokovic.

The Wimbledon grass probably remains his best chance of adding to his Grand Slam collection — he has not won the US Open since 2008 and his only title at Roland Garros came in 2009.

Even though Federer has slipped from the very pinnacle of the game, he is still a major threat to Nadal and Djokovic.

'Golden' ambitions

Last year, the world number four had a 53-10 win-loss record and he reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January in his only tournament this year.

Federer, who is still six ATP titles short of Jimmy Connors' all-time record of 109, has one glaring omission from his CV — the Olympic title.

The Swiss won doubles gold in Beijing in 2008 with compatriot Stan Wawrinka but lost in the singles final to Andy Murray in London four years later.

The postponed Tokyo Games will almost certainly be Federer's last opportunity to complete a career “golden” Grand Slam — he will turn 40 on the day of the closing ceremony next year.

Tennis will feel the loss of the elegant Federer keenly when he walks off the court for the last time.

Djokovic and Nadal have been the dominant forces in recent years but the Swiss remains the biggest draw and last month topped Forbes' list of the world's highest-earning athletes.

His last appearance on court was in front of nearly 52,000 fans — touted by organisers as a world record for tennis — at a charity match against Nadal in Cape Town in February.

Federer is nearly always the crowd favourite wherever he plays and has proved a perfect ambassador for the sport since he won his first Grand Slam title in 2003.

He certainly expects to be back and competitive next year.

“I will be missing my fans and the tour dearly but I will look forward to seeing everyone back on tour at the start of the 2021 season,” he tweeted.

The avalanche of support from his adoring fans showed they would miss him too, but they will have to get used to a time when he is gone for good.

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