Two years after upsetting seven-time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras, Roger Federer was set for another strong campaign at the All England Club. Roger lost to Mario Ancic in the first round in 2002 and got off to a better start a year later, especially after winning the first ATP grass-court title in Halle.
Roger got off to a winning start at Wimbledon after defeating Hyung-Taik Lee 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 on Court 2. Federer had to work hard in the third set to seal the deal and set up the second-round clash. round against his good friend Stefan Koubek.
Roger and Stefan played on Center Court, with the Swiss scoring a quick 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 victory in one hour and 17 minutes. Federer dropped 22 points in 13 service games and had everything under control after the first match.
The Swiss needed some time to find his rhythm in the opening set before he beat the Austrian, dominating sets two and three and earning seven breaks while offering just three chances to Stefan. Koubek got off to a promising start in the opener and created a 5-2 lead with just one break before Roger rallied.
The Swiss added the last five games and fended off a set point on serve at 3-5 to get a huge boost that took him to 17 of the last 19 games and a place in the last 32. There was a rain delay in the first set. Roger used it very well to win the game back from him and have the advantage once they came back, leaving the opponent miles behind and setting up the clash against Mardy Fish.
After the match, Roger spoke about the changes when moving from Court 2 to Center Court, praising the most famous tennis venue in the world. “It’s a significant change from playing on court 2 and suddenly on center court. It is perhaps the best court on the planet at the moment; It’s exceptional to go out with my friend Stefan Koubek by my side.
I needed some time to get used to the bigger court in the first set.”
Roger Federer has transcended tennis
Nakajima reflected on his association with the Federers in an excerpt from the book titled ‘The Roger Federer effect’, co-authored by Simon Cambers and Simon Graf.
“We realized that Europeans are so far ahead in fashion. Roger wanted it a lot more tailor-fitted. So we started creating the Roger Federer collection,” Nakajima revealed. “That’s something Mirka was very involved with. When Roger wasn’t available, Mirka was,” he added.
“A nice polo with a little RF logo; people just went crazy over that. The RF hat was our number one seller at the US Open. A hat. It became one of the most iconic pieces we have ever created,” he revealed.
