Roger Federer admitted he was ‘upset’ after his agonising Wimbledon final defeat at the hands of great rival Novak Djokovic, but caravaning through Switzerland with his kids and drinking wine with his wife helped him get over such a disappointing loss.
The Swiss had two match points on serve in the longest final in the All England Club’s history but couldn’t convert, going down to the Serb in the first ever tiebreak at 12-12 in a singles match at Wimbledon.
Federer was understandably gutted in the immediate aftermath of the loss – calling it an ‘incredible opportunity missed – and he was having flashbacks in the days that followed.
But his busy family life helped distract him from the pain of his professional woes and he’s not expecting any lasting damage as he bids for a sixth title in New York.
‘Look, I struggled a little bit the first couple days,’ he said ahead of the US Open. ‘At the same time I was caravaning with my kids. I didn’t have that much time thinking about all the missed opportunities. I was setting up tables and organising my life for my four children, driving around the beautiful countryside in Switzerland.
‘Sometimes you have flashbacks, things like, Oh, I could have done that, should have done that. The next day you’re having a glass of wine with your wife thinking, The semis was pretty good, even the finals was pretty good. You go in phases.
‘Took me maybe a couple of days just to sort of get those things out of the system, like it takes with everything. Then first couple days back playing tennis, as well, you have a few flashbacks.
‘Overall I think if I look back, I’m very happy I was part of such an entertaining match as well. We are in entertainment, as well. The crowd paid big money to be part of this match. I was part of the main show with Novak. We put up a great fight. Somebody had to win. Novak was the better man on the day. He was tough.
‘I don’t know. I’ve been there before, had some tough losses along the way. So many great wins, as well. I was just more upset rather than being sad. I think being upset made me get over that finals much easier than being sad, dwelling over it too much.
‘Honestly, I’ve had a great run through the clay, on the grass as well, that I was not going to be too down on myself. I hope it’s obviously going to help me for here.’
