After a tough first-round loss to Mario Ancic at Wimbledon 2002, Roger Federer, a former quarter-finalist, was ready to shine again in the cathedral of tennis. The Swiss scored two straight sets wins for a strong start to the 2003 campaign.
Federer won the first set in a rapid 24 minutes against Hyung-Taik Lee and struggled a bit in the third, still doing enough to set up the second-round clash against his friend Stefan Koubek on Center Court. The Austrian fought back valiantly in the first set against the youngster, carving out a 5-2 lead before Federer used a rain delay to win back the game from him.
Once they returned, the Swiss was the only player on the court, adding 17 of the last 19 games to overcome the opponent 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 in 77 minutes. Roger served well, scoring 22 points in 13 service games and moving well above Stefan once he found his A game to take home the victory on short notice in sets two and three.
Koubek got off to a great start, opening a 5-2 lead with a single break before Federer rallied, avoiding a set point and taking five straight games to win the set. Roger gained enormous momentum and raced to the finish line with a confident performance in sets two and three.
Federer fell twice on the slippery surface and explained that he doesn’t help when you think about complicated moves on the grass all the time and you have to put it behind you and continue with your game. “The grass is quite slippery and you have to be careful, I felt twice and could have injured myself.
It doesn’t help if you always think about falling; it affects your movement. Often he doesn’t know why he slipped, which makes him a little worried.”
Federer has new projects
Alex Corretja commented to our colleagues from Express Sport, the possible new job of Roger Federer, the Swiss having been approached by the BBC to become a TV consultant.
“Roger can do whatever he wants, he will be welcome wherever he goes. He knows tennis, he loves tennis, he’s highly respected, he’s such a classy guy. It would be great for us to have it somewhere related to tennis. I think it’s good to have the former players involved because they can add a lot of things, they have a unique experience.
They can therefore offer relevant analyzes because they have often experienced moments or situations similar to what can happen on a court when they are on the edge of the court as a consultant.”
