Roger Federer Remembers Wimbledon 2008 Final: “I Was the Loser Both Times”

Roger Federer felt devastated after a sore defeat against the World No.1, Novak Djokovic in a thrilling five-setter 7-6 (7-5) 1-6 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 13-12 (7-3) at the Wimbledon Championships 2019. The Swiss also compared this defeat with the 2008 Wimbledon finals defeat against Rafael Nadal.

Federer earned many opportunities in the near five-hour match but couldn’t edge past his opponent. The Swiss also missed the two championship points while serving at 40-15 in the final set at 8-7.

In the post-match press conference, Roger Federer revealed that he couldn’t imagine that he missed such an ‘incredible opportunity’ to win a record ninth Wimbledon Championships title and a 21st overall grand slam title of his career.

“It’s hard to tell. I don’t know if losing 2-2-2 feels better than this one,” Roger Federer said. “At the end, it actually doesn’t matter to some extent.”

Roger Federer confessed he couldn’t believe that he lost so many opportunities to win another grand slam. He continued, “You might feel more disappointed, sad, over-angry. I don’t know what I feel right now. I just feel like it’s such an incredible opportunity missed, I can’t believe it.

Roger Federer also compared his defeat with the Wimbledon Championships 2008 loss against Rafael Nadal. In 2008, Nadal defeated Federer in an epic five-setter final which included rain delay and the night coming in.

He said, “Epic ending. We didn’t have the night coming in or the rain delay like in 2008. The only similarity I see is I was the loser both times.”

He also talked about how he will move on from the defeat similar to 2008. He said, “Similar to 2008, maybe I will look back at it and think, well, it’s actually not that bad after all, you know but for now it’s hard and it should, you know, like every loss hurts here at Wimbledon.”

He continued, “But I think its the mindset and I am very strong at being able to move on. I don’t wanna be depressed about an amazing tennis match.”

The 20-time grand slam champion also accepted that he can’t do much if his rivals surpass his grand slam records and he is only focussing on trying to win the big titles like the Wimbledon.

The 37-year-old further added, “Well, I mean, used to be a really, really big deal, you know, I guess when you were close,’ he added. ‘I guess two behind, then eventually you tie, then eventually you break. That was big.”

“It’s been different since naturally because the chase is in a different place. I take motivation from different places, you know,” he said. “Not so much from trying to stay ahead because I broke the record, and if somebody else does, well, that’s great for them. You can’t protect everything anyway.”

The world no. 3 continued, “I didn’t become a tennis player for that. I really didn’t. It’s about trying to win Wimbledon, trying to have good runs here, playing in front of such an amazing crowd in this Centre Court against players like Novak and so forth. That’s what I play for.”

Roger Federer concluded that he is still satisfied with his performance, though things are different now. “Yeah, so things are different now. But I’m very happy with my level of play nowadays still.”