Don’t blame Roger Federer for being nervous on Tuesday against Dusan Lajovic, a low-ranked player. This was week one at Wimbledon, a period that usually feels like a vacation for Federer, who has won this title seven times, tied for the most in history. Not this year. Federer, who has lost just two matches this season, skipped the French Open to prepare for the tournament that matters the most to him. There’s pressure. There’s the fact that he hasn’t played many matches recently. And there’s the knowledge—this can’t be escaped—that Federer hasn’t won here since 2012, despite coming close several times.
For Federer, Wimbledon is not the Australian Open, where he went in January after six months off with zero expectations. He was relaxed and not worried about losing, and swung the racket with an easy sense of freedom. In the final he won by being loose in a tense moment, trailing Rafael Nadal 3-1 in the fifth set. Federer won the next five games.
When Federer met with reporters after the Lajovic match, he talked about his nerves without even being asked. This was both surprising and refreshing—and revealing. About how badly Federer would like to win Wimbledon and how he’s not sure if he’s ready to win, having played so little since April.
“You need to play a lot of matches and you need to win a lot and become super, ultra confident,” Federer said. “I think the more confident you are the less your mind starts wandering.”
Besides Federer’s complicated and sometimes nervous desire, there’s an extremely difficult draw. On Monday, he plays Grigor Dimitrov, once a semifinalist here, in the fourth round. Dimitrov was once called Baby Fed for a reason: He has pretty strokes and fine technique, though never quite as much consistency as Federer. If Federer wins that match, he’ll likely battle Milos Raonic, who ousted him here last year.
As tough as those two are sound, that’s the easy part. In the semifinal Federer might face Novak Djokovic, who seems at last to be gaining confidence. Win that one and Federer could have the toughest match of all in the final, against Rafael Nadal. Nadal won his 10th French Open last month and is playing as well as he has since 2014.
Can Federer do all this? Yes, of course—he’s not a winner of 18 Grand Slam titles for nothing. But he’s essentially competing at his most difficult Wimbledon ever, with a strong batch of players in his way for all of week two. Things could change quickly—Federer knows that as much as anyone. What he really knows well, but can’t quite accomplish as usual just yet, is how to ignore everything except the ball.
“Sometimes you forget about everything else and all you think about is the next point,” Federer said. “But it’s hard to get there.”
If anyone can do it, Federer can. We’ll see this week.
