Will an 8th Wimbledon title beckon for Federer following withdrawal from French Open?

The withdrawal of Roger Federer from this year’s French Open has been seen by many as a sign that the great man is shaping up for another serious tilt at Wimbledon this year. Fitness will be a key factor for Federer. He will only be two months short of his 36th birthday when he takes to the court in SW19. For any other player in the world, we wouldn’t be having this discussion for whether or not a thirty-five-year-old can win Wimbledon five years after his previous win.

What Factors Could Lead to Federer Doing it?

Clearly Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are struggling this year and that appears to be opening the door for Federer. The odds on Federer actually winning his 19th slam can be seen at https://www.sunbets.co.uk/sports/betting/Tennis/competitions/Wimbledon%20Outrights and many experts are beginning to believe that he can actually do it. Andy Murray is having serious problems at the moment and is considering bringing back Ivan Lendl in an attempt to rescue his season in the Grand Slams.

Federer despite his age is a proven winner. He knows how to cross the finishing line and is clearly motivated to do even greater things. He won the Australian Open in January to become one of the oldest Grand Slam winners in history.

If he gets an easy ride during the first week of Wimbledon and doesn’t get a great deal of court time then he could be fresh going into the second week. His craft around the court hasn’t diminished but that cannot be said for his main competition. It was Rafael Nadal that faced him in the final of the Australian Open that went down in history as the “throwback final”.

Andy Murray has already had seven defeats this year and looks a long way off from winning a slam. The question is being asked if Federer is too old to go the distance? In this instance the answer is a clear no! We aren’t talking about an ordinary tennis player. Only Ken Rosewall has won a slam at an older age than Federer!

Federer has Real Chances

The planets seem to be aligning for Roger Federer to go very close to winning at Wimbledon. He clearly still has the game to win a slam and his training program in the run up to Wimbledon will be heavily focused on grass. That may or may not give him a significant edge going into the tournament. However, let us not forget that there are other contenders at SW19 too.

Federer was beaten in last season’s semi-final by Milos Raonic and Stan Wawrinka is a multiple slam champion although he hasn’t got past the quarter finals at Wimbledon. So, will Federer win Wimbledon again? The short answer is probably not and that he has it all to do. On the flip side, while it can be said that Federer is great on all surfaces, it is on grass that he is absolutely unstoppable when he is really on his game.

It really is anyone’s guess if Federer can do it and make it slam number 19. This is making this years tournament a really fascinating one and one of the most open Wimbledon’s in years. With Djokovic and Murray currently struggling and Nadal still a long way from his best, could we see a new face on the trophy this year and who could that possibly be if Federer and the usual suspects fall short?

Can Anybody Else Breakthrough

We have already mentioned Milos Raonic who got to last year’s final but is anybody else capable of winning a slam in the top 16 of the men’s rankings? Kei Nishikori has been touted as a potential slam winner for a while. He reached the 2014 US Open final but does he really have the game to win at Wimbledon? He hasn’t got past the quarter-finals of a slam since that 2014 US Open. It is no surprise that Federer and Nadal contested this year’s Australian Open final.

There are few players in the men’s game capable of winning a big slam when the pressure builds in the second week outside of the players that have already won one. This all points to one thing and that is Federer getting to at least the semi-finals at Wimbledon and going close to slam number 19.

Author Bio:

Carl Sampson is a full-time sports bettor, poker player and sports writer and a keen tennis nut.