Mats Wilander casts doubts over Roger Federer’s hopes of adding to his major title haul

Shahida Jacobs
June 30, 2019

Seven-time Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander has cast doubts over Roger Federer’s hopes of winning another Grand Slam title, as he suspects the sands of time may finally be catching up with the 37-year-old legend of the game.

Federer stands alone as the player who has collected the most Grand Slam titles, yet Eurosport expert Wilander has suggested the Swiss legend may not add to his haul of 20 major titles as he vies for a ninth Wimbledon crown at the All England Club over the next two weeks.

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Federer has been installed as second favourite to win Wimbledon once again after what appears to be a favourable draw, yet Wilander feels his old foes Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are more likely to win the title at SW19.

“I’m not sure if Federer is able to win in five sets anymore,” declared Wilander. “If these matches were in two or three sets then maybe; but it’s not, and it’s a huge difference.

“Roger is not the favourite, of course not. Because of the five sets I think we don’t know how he’s going to react in a couple of five set matches. But he’s among several, it’s probably the same old players.

“Novak, Roger and Rafa, I think in that order, and then there are maybe five or six more guys that could potentially cause a couple of upsets.”

Wilander went on to suggest Stefanos Tsitsipas and Felix Auger-Aliassime are dark horses to watch at Wimbledon, as they have emerged as two young guns capable of taking on the game’s established elite.

“I think that honestly they are the best guys who can win the Slams,” he said of Tsitsipas and Auger-Aliassime.

“Tstitsipas, I think is 1-1 in his matches against Federer, he’s down one against Nadal. He’s only played the best guys a couple of times but then they don’t fear the merits of those guys. I think they fear them because they’re 1-2-3 in the world, but they are not intimidated by the name.”

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