Roger Federer hits back at Serena Williams’ retirement claim at Wimbledon
GETTY Roger Federer is through to the third round of Wimbledon
Federer and Williams are both 36 years old and are reaching the latter end of their careers. Williams has 23 Grand Slam titles – three more than her male rival – and she is planning to stay ahead in the hunt for the greatest legacy. Both players are competing at Wimbledon over the next fortnight and have a strong chance of winning as a number of top-10 players have suffered early exits in both draws. But when Federer was quizzed on Williams’ retirement plans, he played down the competition. “Yeah, I guess it's a good thing,” he said.
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I don't know if it's a good thing for her Roger Federer
“I'm not sure. I don't know if it's a good thing for her, because maybe she wanted to play longer or shorter. I don't know. “But I'm sure she was joking, so... Let's be honest for a second.” Federer progressed to the third round at Wimbledon this afternoon by beating Lukas Lacko 6-4, 6-4, 6-1. And the No 1 seed was delighted with his performance.
GETTY Serena Williams will not retire until Federer does
“Sometimes your serve matches up better against certain players. There's no doubt about that, as well,” he added. “I think important is when you want to serve well is your point-for-point mentality, saying maybe the first point is as important as a breakpoint, so the concentration is the same. “Trying to remember all the things you've done throughout the entire match, what has worked, what hasn't worked. “I don't need that much time, especially after a short previous rally to go through all of that. Just reassess everything very quickly.
GETTY Federer has spent less than three hours on court this week