“Probably Very Moist”: Roger Federer Talks About the Nature of Grass at Wimbledon Championships 2021 Following Serena Williams’ Retirement

In a year where the tennis world saw Roger Federer play just eight matches on-tour before heading into the Wimbledon Championships, it was confusing for enthusiasts regarding their expectations from the Swiss Maestro at SW19.

To make things worse, Federer had a worst-possible start as he was two sets to one down against the Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in the first-round. Even though he picked himself up and leveled the match at two sets all, Federer had luck going his way when his opponent hurt his knee when he slipped on-court.

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Roger Federer registered a morale-boosting victory over Gasquet at Wimbledon

The French player retired from the match, handing over the victory to Federer. However, in the next-round, the Swiss star ensured that he puts up a commendable performance as he defeated Gasquet in straight sets 7-6,6-1,6-4.

Even though the eight-time Wimbledon Champion is yet to get back to his usual best, glimpses of his typical class were visible in that second-round match up against the Frenchman.

Federer’s next opponent is Cameron Norrie, who is having a great season so far. It will be a real test for the Swiss Maestro as he only faced Norrie once before on the ATP tour.

One of the talking points in this year’s Wimbledon is the slippery nature of grass on all the courts. More importantly, a lot of top players who had their matches on Center Court, opined that the grass was way to skiddy.

The tournament organizers received flak when 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams had nasty fall during the first-round match and was forced to retire mid-way.

Federer shares his opinion on the slippery nature of Wimbledon grass this year

Expressing his opinion over the grass at SW19 this year, Federer, who himself fell a few times on center court, felt that the players have to find a way to adjust to the surface.

“I realized in the middle patch between the service line and the baseline, that’s where its most slippery. This is where, I will, if I do serve and volley or if I come to the net and I am coming from far back, this is the moment where I have to do my split step and it becomes very, very tricky. This is where I fell also, a couple of times”,?explained Federer.

The Swiss Maestro continued, “You have to pick your moments, and you have to decide how much you push at the very moment. But I honestly don’t think they can do very much different than the previous years. We haven’t had much issues with the roof closed in the past. I just think the problem was, it was probably very moist”.?

“One hour of Tennis where it feels the same as before” – Roger Federer on finding his best form

Almost every other day, we could see players falling on the court as it happens when they had to change their direction suddenly to reach the ball.

With respect to his win against Richard Gasquet, Federer explained that he needed that victory to have a boost in confidence going forward at SW19.

“That’s what I desperately needed. One hour of Tennis where it feels the same as before. It was a wonderful feeling. I hope I can build on that in the matches to come and have 20, 30 minutes in a row where I can make the difference”.?

Despite admitting that he is yet to find his best form on court, Federer’s dominance in the second set against Gasquet showed that he can be back to his best on grass with a few more matches under his belt.

Facing a tough opponent in the third round, the Swiss Maestro might have to battle past the crowd as the local hero Cameron Norrie will get a lot of support from fans in Center Court.

Also read: ?He Needs to Go Out?: Roger Federer Jokes About Beating Cameron Norrie at Wimbledon Championships 2021