Wimbledon marked 100 years of its Centre Court on Sunday with a musical celebration and a parade of former champions.
2022 is a very special year for Wimbledon, marking 100 years since our move to Church Road, and the centenary of Centre Court, an unparalleled cathedral of sport.
This year’s Championships pays homage and celebrates Centre Court: an engineering marvel of a structure built in just nine months; its iconic status in tennis and wider in sport, and the drama and iconic moments that have unfolded over the last 100 years.
Eight-time men’s champion Roger Federer, who is not playing this year because of a knee injury,Swiss tennis star Roger Federer says he wants to play at Wimbledon “one more time” as he returned to Wimbledon for Centre Court’s centenary celebrations.
Since then the legendary Swiss has embarked on an arduous, complicated period of recuperation on his troublesome knee.
With eight singles titles to his name, @rogerfederer 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆#Wimbledon | #CentreCourt100 pic.twitter.com/ucGLn0wW6q
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 3, 2022
But in a conversation on Centre Court during a walk-on for past champions, Federer said he is still aiming to return.
He said: “I’ve been lucky enough to play a lot of matches here.
“This court has given me my biggest wins and my biggest losses.
“I hope I can come back one more time. I miss being here.
“I didn’t think it would take this long to come back; this year has been rough on me.
“I didn’t know if I should make the trip, but I’m happy to be standing here today.
“2001 [stands out] against Sampras [Federer beat the American legend to end his title defence]; and then in 2003, against Mark Philippoussis [to win his first title].
“You [Sue Barker, who was speaking Federer] remember what that meant to me [the Swiss cried during his winner’s speech].”
It remains to be seen if “one more time” was a coded message that Federer sees 2023 as his swansong from the game.
Topics
Wimbledon Roger Federer Tennis Sports Kolkata
Bengali