As the dust settles on the All England Club after the two week long Wimbledon tournament, authorities are working day in and day out to get the courts back into shape with the players returning to the venue in just a fortnight’s time as it will host the tennis matches of the London Olympic Games. And one man who is extremely keen to return to his favorite hunting ground is legendary Swiss tennis player Roger Federer, who is high on confidence after his 7th title triumph at the All England Club, which returned him to the top of the pile in the ATP rankings after an absence of more than two years.
Federer needs a Gold Medal in the singles event of the Olympic Games to complete the coveted Career Golden Slam, with Andre Agassi and arch rival Rafael Nadal being the only two male players to have achieved the feat. Having already won 17 Grand Slam titles, Federer has created a legacy in the Open Era of tennis that is not going to be broken easily but for Federer, winning a medal at the Olympic Games will be the one achievement that will take him to the very pinnacle of tennis as the greatest player of all time. Federer has already won the Gold Medal in doubles with Stanislas Wawrinka in the Beijing Olympic Games of 2008 but he is still to get close to achieving that singles Gold Medal.
And the two players who will be standing in the way of Federer and history are Serbian tennis ace Novak Djokovic and Spanish power hitter Rafael Nadal. Nadal, currently ranked at third in the ATP rankings will be going to the London Olympic Games as the defending champion in the singles event. However, having lost out in the second round of the recently concluded Wimbledon, Nadal will not be heading back to the famous grass courts on the back of a good form, which might just make it difficult for him to retain his title. He did win the French Open title for the 7th time in his career just a couple of months back but since then, he has not been in the best of touches, especially away from his favorite clay court surface. Moreover, with the Olympic Tennis events being held on the grass courts of Wimbledon, it lands him in another difficult situation.
Another player who is being touted as the potential winner of the Gold Medal at the London Olympic Games is Serbian Novak Djokovic. The Djoker came out of nowhere in 2008 to win the US Open and since 2010; he has been in blistering form, winning 3 of the last 5 Grand Slam titles which consolidated his position at the top of the ATP rankings. And having lost to Roger Federer in the last four of Wimbledon, the Serbian is in good touch which will also help him in his quest for the Gold Medal at the upcoming London Olympic Games at Wimbledon.