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Federer says no chance for Novak to usurp him yet
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-11-20 10:10 KUALA LUMPUR: Roger Federer said on Tuesday he was not that bothered about Serbia's Novak Djokovic closing in on his ranking as world No 2.
"I'm going to sleep well for a month. He (Djokovic) is not going to pass me anytime soon," Federer told a news conference. "For me, honestly, ranking two, three, four, five, 25, it doesn't really matter a whole lot, you know. For me it is either No 1 or being in the main draw," added the Swiss. Djokovic, who won the Masters Cup in Shanghai on Monday, is just 10 points shy of Federer in the world rankings. Federer was in the Malaysian capital for an exhibition event which also featured world No 10 James Blake and former tennis greats John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg. Last week Federer, complaining of injury and a stomach bug, lost to Briton Andy Murray at the Masters Cup in Shanghai. The Shanghai loss was Federer's 15th in a season when he lost his world No 1 ranking and Wimbledon title to Spain's Rafael Nadal, prompting speculation that he had lost his edge. Federer, who has won 13 grand slams, told reporters that at 27 he was still confident he had "many more years" of tennis left in him. Federer scraped past Blake on Tuesday, showing no signs of the back strain or stomach bug that hampered him at last week's season-ending Masters Cup. Blake broke first for a 3-1 lead with some powerful groundstrokes and pinpoint serving, before Federer clawed a game back for 3-2 and served out to level the match at 3-3. It went to a tiebreak where Federer showed his mettle to emerge a 7-6 winner in a hard-fought match-up interspersed with some light-hearted moments. "There was some fantastic tennis tonight. I was very confident coming into the match today and I played pretty well so I'm happy," said Federer. "James is a great friend of mine on tour and I love playing him." The pair play another exhibition in Macao today before Federer takes a well-earned break before the 2009 season which he gets underway in the Middle East ahead of the Australian Open in Melbourne in January. On the same bill, John McEnroe won the battle of the old timers when he beat former arch-rival Bjorn Borg 7-6. For Borg and McEnroe, both sporting grey hair, it was a walk down memory lane, revisiting the highs and lows of their bitter rivalry, typified by the 1980 Wimbledon final won by Borg in five gruelling sets. McEnroe played to the crowd, making fun of himself, only occasionally glaring at the linesman or umpire and throwing his racquet just twice. Despite being 52, Borg showed he hadn't lost his touch, still exhibiting some sublime passing shots that left 49-year-old McEnroe grudgingly nodding his approval. Agencies |
