Federer sad at Nadal's Wimbledon exit

Source: Agencies | June 22, 2009, Monday |

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ROGER Federer said on Saturday he feels sad Rafael Nadal's knee injury has put a temporary halt to one of the sport's greatest rivalries.

Spaniard Nadal, who beat Federer in an epic five-set Wimbledon final last year, withdrew on Friday with tendinitis in both knees, leaving the Swiss world No. 2 to once again open play on Center Court today, albeit a little sheepishly.

"I shouldn't deserve it this year because Rafa deserves it (as champion) but I am obviously very honored that the championships chose me again to open the tournament," said Federer, who trails Nadal 7-13 in their head-to-heads.

World No. 1 Nadal's decision to pull out opens the door for Federer to win a record 15th grand slam although the five-time Wimbledon champion would prefer to make history with another clash against his great adversary.

"We played the last three years against each other here at Wimbledon," Federer told reporters. "So we definitely won't see the same final again. That's disappointing for me, of course, because I'd love to play him."

Federer said he had an inkling Nadal was struggling when they had a brief chat at Wimbledon on Wednesday.

"We had a quick 10-second chat maybe," said Federer. "He congratulated me for Paris. It was good to see him.

"I asked him how his knee was. He was like, it's okay. So I kind of knew it wasn't great, because he's very honest to me. So I knew that something could be coming up."

Nadal's knees were still the main talking point among the players as they milled around the Aorangi Park practice courts on Saturday.

Last year's beaten women's finalist Serena Williams had a rather different take on the big pre-tournament talking point.

"I'm sad. I'm a huge Nadal fan (but) I'm sure there's a lot of guys on the men's tour who were probably celebrating and partying," she told reporters.

Tennis

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Federer sad at Nadal's Wimbledon exit

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