Switzerland's Roger Federer
has become so popular among both competitors and media that he finds it
difficult to walk around the athletes village at the Olympic park, and
has journalists gushing over him at press conferences.
The world number one and 17-time grand slam winner has
stayed at the athletes village at two of the three Olympics he has
attended, but at his fourth in London he will be staying nearer the
tennis venue in Wimbledon.
While this is partly down to convenience - the Olympic
park is around an hour's drive from Wimbledon - the 30-year-old admitted
his fame had also been a consideration.
"I have done the village before so it is not like I
feel I have to do the village so badly. I would love to, but of course I
have also become very famous over the last eight years or so, so times
have also changed and when I do move around in the village things are
not as simple as they were," he told the packed 700-capacity main press
room at the Olympic media centre.
While waiting for the number one seed to arrive, many
journalists were using their phones and iPads to take pictures of the
seemingly unnecessary "Roger Federer"
name placard on the table where he was to sit. As he arrived, people
strained over each other to get a picture of him entering the room.
In contrast, only around 50 people turned out to see
second seed Serbia's Novak Djokovic, who won a bronze at the Beijing
Games and was knocked off the world number one spot by Federer this
month, when he held a press conference an hour earlier along with some
of his countrymen.
If seeming slightly bemused by his popularity among the
world's media, Federer remained light hearted by his reception.
In response to one journalist, who began by saying "As a
journalist and as a fan, I know that you will win this Olympic gold"
before asking Federer if he would retire if he achieved that feat, he
responded: "I don't know, are you my fan or not? If you don't want me to
stop, I wont."
While when another member of the media who confessed to
being a big fan "like so many other journalists" asked who was the
biggest star of the games, Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps or Roger Federer
he responded "Well, not me".
Federer, who won gold in the doubles at Beijing with
Stanislas Wawrinka, said singles gold was far from a certainty, partly
down to the fact that all but the final match will be best of three sets
rather than the grand slam best five.
"That puts the margins more closer to each other," said
Federer, who would have been out in the third round of Wimbledon under
such rules, having gone two sets down to France's Julien Benneteau - his
potential second round opponent at the Olympics.
"It just goes to show a bad five minutes or a bad
couple of points can cost you the tournament, I am aware of that but I
do believe winning Wimbledon three weeks ago is going to help me with my
confidence," said Federer, who faces Colombia's Alejandro Falla in the
first round.
Away from chasing the gold, Federer, who has become a
father for the first time since the last Olympics, also has the
important task of picking out a present or two for his twin daughters,
who have just turned three.
"I will try to have a look and get some souvenirs,"
said Federer, who met his wife Mirka at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. "A
good dad should bring back some souvenirs from time to time."
Date: 27th July 2012, Source: Reuters
