Swiss tennis superstar Roger Federer won his first career Grand Slam singles title at the Wimbledon Championships in 2003 and the now 31-year old star said that just like any other player who won their first Grand slam title, he had to deal with the great expectations set on him.
“The win in 2001 over Pete Sampras at Wimbledon gave many people the belief that I should or I could win a Grand Slam and, if one, probably Wimbledon,” Federer said in an exclusive interview with BBC Radio.
“I came in [to Wimbledon 2003] with a lot of pressure, having lost the first round the year before to Mario Ancic so I knew that I better make at least the quarter-finals or maybe the semi-finals. People were starting to debate if I was ever going to win one. Now, looking back, you think ‘how could they say that?’ but in the moment itself it’s very difficult to deal with.
“People were comparing me to Pete Sampras when he had 60 titles and I had barely five. That was hard to accept. Even though it was actually a compliment in one way, it was a hard pressure on the other side.”
Sampras retired from professional tennis after the US Open 2002 tournament and Federer became one of the favorites to win the Wimbledon 2003. Then-defending champion Lleyton Hewitt lost in the first round back then. Federer met expectations, beating Andy Roddick in the semifinals and Australian Mark Philippoussis in the final.
This year would be the tenth year since Federer won his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon. The great thing about this is that he’s still a heavy favorite as ever. He’ll be entering the 2013 Wimbledon Championships as the defending champion, after having clinched his seventh title at the All England Club in 2012 with a win over British bet Andy Murray.
Here are the list of Grand Slam singles win of Roger Federer (totalling 17 Grand Slam singles titles)
Australian Open [4] – 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010
Roland Garros [1] – 2009
Wimbledon [7] – 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
US Open [5] – 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
