Roger Federer has explained that he was ‘average’ during his shock Wimbledon quarter-final exit to Kevin Anderson.
The top seed was two sets and a match point up before losing to US Open finalist, Kevin Anderson 2-6 6-7(5) 7-5 6-4 13-11. The epic Wimbledon loss was the first time he lost a match from two sets down at Wimbledon since losing to Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in 2011. The defending champion has blamed his ‘average’ performance for his defeat to the US Open finalist, “It’s just not one of my best days, but they don’t happen very often either. It’s one of those average days you have to try to win the match, and I just couldn’t get it done today. So it’s disappointing,” explained Federer.
“Today was one of those days. I think it went in spells a bit also, how I was able to return his serve. I had moments where I was great, I felt like I was reading his serve, other moments where I don’t know where the hell I was moving to. I don’t know if that was his serve. But I also have a feeling, it was a feeling of mine, you know, not getting it right.”
The 20 time grand slam champion also praised Anderson for his performance as he admitted that he was simply better in the big moments, “I mean, look, he’s got a nice, big serve that he can rely heavily on,” Federer said. “I always thought he returns well off second serves, especially if you give him the small one. He can really lean onto it. I think he did that well again today.”
The one controversial topic heading into the match was where Federer was scheduled as he competed on Court One for the first time in three years. However Federer dismissed all claims that this was a factor in determining the result, “I don’t think it would have changed if I played there last year. It’s not like I would have remembered exactly how it would have felt. I don’t think it really mattered, to be honest. I had my chances and blew them, so… That’s my problem really.”
The Swiss great also explained that he has every intention of returning to SW19 next year in a bid to win his ninth title, “Yeah, of course, the goal is to come back here next year. I wouldn’t call it ‘unfinished business’. I felt like I did some good business here in the past already. So I’m all right. Just disappointed now.”
Roger Federer now heads to the American hard court swing, which starts in early August.
