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Updated June 23rd, 2021 at 13:44 IST

Roger Federer honoured in promo by Wimbledon 2021 official broadcasters in India: WATCH

With preparations for Wimbledon 2021 in full swing, Star Sports - the official broadcasters of the Slam - have released a promo mainly featuring Roger Federer.

Reported by: Sharmistha More
Roger Federer
Image Credits: AP | Image:self
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With preparations for the Wimbledon 2021 Championships in full swing in London, Star Sports, the official broadcasters of the Slam in India, have released a promotional video featuring the one and only - Roger Federer - as their centrepiece. Missing from the tour for more than a year due to a significant knee surgery, the 'King of Grass' is set to make his much-awaited return to his beloved grass courts. While the Roger Federer comeback has mostly been unimpressive, the Swiss Maestro's deep run at the French Open has led fans to believe that he will ace Wimbledon.

Wimbledon 2021: Roger Federer comeback promo steals hearts

After missing out last year, both Wimbledon and Roger Federer will be hoping to make glorious comebacks on June 28, 2021. The 8-time champion and 20-time Grand Slam winner is sure to be a fan favourite as he makes his return to the prestigious All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club this summer. Teasing his return, Star Sports released an emotional video montage of some of Federer's best moments at the Slam, with of course an iconic nod to the pairing of the 'GOAT' and 'grass', writing that the "GOAT is hungrier than ever" this year. 

Roger Federer ranking

With the resumption of the ATP Tour in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the organization instituted some changes to its ranking system to aid players who preferred not to play due to health concerns. This new rule allowed players to retain their points from tournaments played in 2019, allowing them to skip events without the fear of losing points for missing out on the compulsory events - the four Grand Slams and 8 mandatory Masters 1000 events. While this has been beneficial to some players, who have either contracted COVID or chosen to sit games out because of it, one of its biggest beneficiaries is Roger Federer. 

Federer's only ATP tournament in 2020 was the Australian Open, where he lost to Novak Djokovic in the semi-final. This gave Federer just 720 points in 2020. However, despite having skipped the rest of the year due to injury, Federer was still seeded at No.5 coming into the Australian Open 2021 - significantly higher than players who actually performed in 2020. While the ATP does make provisions for injuries, Federer's mismatch in rankings became quite obvious as he struggled to get his campaigns going in 2021. As other players have added points to their draw, the Roger Federer ranking has fallen to No. 8.

Djokovic vs Federer head to head

The Djokovic vs Federer head to head currently stands at 27-23 in favour of Djokovic. Despite it being his favourite, Djokovic only has a slim 20–18 lead over Federer on hardcourts. Djokovic also surprisingly leads 3–1 on grass courts - a Federer speciality - while both men are tied at 4–4 on clay, which is not a preferred venue for either player. The initial meetings between the two men were dominated by Federer, who won four consecutive matches in 2006-07 before Djokovic broke in and created his own four-match streak from 2016-19. 

Image credits: AP

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Published June 23rd, 2021 at 13:44 IST

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