WIMBLEDON, England — The morning after Roger Federer won a record-tying seventh Wimbledon championship, he returned to the site of his latest triumph to conduct interviews in various languages and, while there, ran into All England Club Chairman Philip Brook.
They exchanged pleasantries Monday and before parting ways, Brook said: “I’ll see you in a few weeks.”
“I’ll check in with you when I get back,” Federer replied with a grin.
In this rather unusual season, the green grass that Federer knows so well is the scene of two significant events: Wimbledon, which ended Sunday, and the London Olympics tennis competition, which begins July 28. Having restored his reign at the Grand Slam tournament, Federer can follow that up by earning a gold medal in singles for Switzerland, one of the few accomplishments missing from his overflowing resume.
And make no mistake, Federer is not merely happy to be participating in the 2012 Summer Games.
“I do believe my situation has got that little star next to it. I am now the Wimbledon champion, and I think that gives me even more confidence coming to the Olympics. And maybe in some ways, it maybe takes some ’pressure,’ ” he said, uncrossing his arms to make air quotes with his fingers, “off the Olympics because I already did win at Wimbledon this year. So that’s a good thing for me because of course there is a lot of hype around me playing at the Olympics this year.”
This is about winning, not participating.
He won’t stay in the athletes’ village. Been there, done that.
Instead, Federer will rent his usual house near the All England Club, an arrangement that worked well this past fortnight, clearly.
Federer already has been to three Olympics; he met his wife, Mirka, a former tennis player, at the 2000 Games. He carried the Swiss flag at the opening ceremony twice, but said he might allow someone else to have that honor this time. He owns a doubles gold he won with Stanislas Wawrinka in Beijing four years ago.
A singles gold would be the perfect gift for a guy who has everything, including a record 17 Grand Slam titles (his first came at Wimbledon in 2003) and, as of Monday, 286 weeks at No. 1 in the ATP rankings, equaling Pete Sampras’ career record.
“Obviously, the Olympics is the next goal,” Federer said during a 15-minute session with a half-dozen reporters. “I was taking it in steps, really: all-out until Wimbledon. And then, after that, take a break, reassess, prepare well, then come back for the Olympics and hopefully play well.”
On Tuesday, Olympic organizers officially begin to take over the All England Club and make it theirs.
There was a flurry of activity around the grounds Monday. A large electronic video scoreboard was being dismantled. Potted plants were discarded. A souvenir shop was being emptied of purple-and-green umbrellas and other Wimbledon items to make way for Olympic mementos.
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