World No. 1 Roger Federer has made a huge admission about former WTA No. 1 and 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, who will be making her much anticipated comeback in Indian Wells on Thursday.
Federer, who overtook Andre Agassi as the oldest No. 1 player in tennis history in February, was speaking to reporters after participating in the Match for Africa charity event, where he acknowledged that some of the records in women’s tennis, including Serena’s are well beyond his reach.
Serena, who was on maternity leave since last year’s Australian Open will be back in action at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where Federer is the men’s defending champion.
Federer claimed his 20th Grand Slam title in January, when he defended his Australian Open crown by defeating Marin Cilic of Croatia in a five-set thriller. However, Williams with her tally of 23 Major trophies is way ahead of the Swiss great as far as Grand Slam titles are concerned.
While Serena has made no secret of her desire to extend her record to 25 Grand Slams, Federer isn’t any hurry to match the American superstar’s record. Despite his recent success, Federer admitted he isn’t targeting Serena’s tally of Grand Slam victories.
“The women’s game has records in there that are just beyond, like Martina Navratilova, Serena, you name it, or Steffi Graf for that matter, the Golden Slam,” Federer said.
“There are things that are just phenomenal.
“I always love watching the women’s game, but I’ve never really looked to Serena as wanting to eclipse her in anything.
“I’m just happy that for both Venus and Serena that they’re still playing, because I thought a few years back, or a while ago actually now, when they were not well, they had injuries and worries, that they were going to leave the game much earlier.
“They hung around and did amazing for the game and I’m just really happy for them, to be quite honest.”
