November 17, 2008, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Roger Federer is no longer at the top one world ranking in the professional sport of Tennis. He is now second place to Spain’s Rafael Nadal. However, according to Federer, winning the Wimbledon title is more important to him than regaining the number one spot once again.
Federer lost the number one spot to Rafael Nadal because he began the 2008 season with a bout of mononucleosis. The medical condition significantly affected his A-game that he was able to lose both the French Open and Wimbledon finals to Nadal, paving way for the Spaniard’s rise to the number one spot. However, despite losing the number one ranking, Federer managed to win the Olympic doubles gold medal and won his fifth straight US Open nearing the record of Pete Sampras. Federer stated that while he would love to beat the Grand Slam record set by Pete Sampras and regain his number one world ranking again, he places winning the Wimbledon title above everything else.
Other tennis players that will be competing for the Wimbledon title include James Blake, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg. The four players will be playing two singles matches and one doubles match.
During the press conference, McEnroe also expressed excitement over playing in the Wimbledon as fans will be seeing two generations of tennis players in action. Also, according to McEnroe, there are a lot more personalities in men’s tennis than there are in the women’s that can further expand the sport’s fan base. McEnroe himself is a former world number one tennis player and is a winner of seven Grand Slam singles titles.