Roger Federer tied one on after winning his eighth Wimbledon title and 19th major title overall on Sunday at Wimbledon. Reportedly the Swiss maestro hit the town early on Monday morning after the Wimbledon Ball and did not get to bed until 5 AM. The Swiss maestro showed up for his Champion’s press conference on Monday, admitting that he was still feeling a bit groggy.
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“Yeah, my head’s ringing,” he said at Monday’s champion’s press, according to the UK Guardian. “I don’t know what I did last night. I drank too many types of drinks, I guess. … The last hour or so I’m somewhat OK again. I’m happy with that.”
But Federer still had the wherewithal to comment on his rejuvenation this season and issue a challenge to the ATP Tour’s Generation Next. Get aggressive!
Tennis’s greatest grass-courters says that young players need to do more take advantage of the fast, low-bouncing surfaces at Wimbledon. The green stuff at SW19 may not be as lightning-quick or as low-bouncing as they were 20 years ago, but Wimbledon’s lawns still provide ample opportunity for a net-rushing serve-and-volleyer to impose himself on the field. It wasn’t only Federer who employed old-school, aggressive tactics at Wimbledon. We also saw Gilles Muller and Mischa Zverev employ lots of net-rushing into their gameplan.
“I look at the stats and, whatever round it is, I see that the guy I’m going to face is playing 2% of serve and volley throughout the championship,” Federer said on Monday, per the Guardian. “I’m going, OK, I know he’s not going to serve and volley–which is great for me. And the grass was playing fast this week. I wish that we would see more coaches, more players taking chances up at the net, because good things do happen there.
Federer says that even though the grass plays slower than it did 15 years ago, it’s still wise for players to not treat it as if it were a hard court. Without aggressive tactics, it’s virtually impossible to beat a Murray or a Djokovic. “You have to hit a lot of good shots to come through a Murray or a Djokovic. Over five sets, it catches up with you and it’s favorable for the top guys.”