Roger Federer of Switzerland won the 2012 Wimbledon Men’s Singles Title on Sunday with a four-set victory over Great Britain’s Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. The title win propels the Swiss star back to the top of the world’s rankings on Monday.
It is a significant win for the Swiss star. Aside from increasing the record number of Grand Slam title wins to 17, Federer has just equaled Pete Sampras’ title wins at Wimbledon with seven and also tied with the American former number one with the most number of weeks at the top of the world rankings (286 weeks). With no significant ranking changes in the next few weeks, the Swiss star will eventually break the tie and will set the record.
In the first set, Murray first drew blood by breaking the Swiss star’s serve to lead 1-0 and that pretty much set the pace and the British tennis sensation went on to win it 6-4. In the second set, Federer held on to his serves despite the spirited challenge from Murray and the growing support of the home crowd to his opponent. Federer won a crucial breakpoint to prevent a tiebreaker and he took the second set 7-5.
A pivotal 26-point game took place in third set with Murray’s serve getting broken that led to Federer leading at 4-2 which pretty much set the tone of the match moving forward. Federer did not surrender his service game and won the third set 6-3. In the fourth set, Federer was clearly at his element and produced the best shots that left Murray reeling and Federer went on to win the match 6-4 on his serve in the fourth set.
The last time Federer won a Grand Slam title was at the 2010 Australian Open and since then his younger rivals – Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic have since gotten their shares of the titles at stake and his ranking dropped to number three. One streak remained in the past two years, he’s never lost prior to the quarterfinals in a major tournament.
The return to the world number one ranking is a clear indication that Federer still has what it takes to dominate the sport despite being 30 years of age. He has since stated that he could still see himself competing at the 2016 Olympics at Rio de Janeiro which means he still has at least four years to continue setting records at the ATP Tour and Grand Slam events.
