Youzhny slams Federer critics
July 5th, 2012 - 5:37 am ICT by IANS
London, June 4 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russian Mikhail Youzhny insisted Wednesday that Roger Federer is nowhere near a career decline after bowing out of the Wimbledon quarterfinals to the Swiss third seed.
Federer saw off Youzhny, seeded 26, in a one-way match lasting barely 90 minutes. He hit 25 winners on his way to a 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 victory to set up a semifinal with top seed Novak Djokovic or Germany’s Florian Mayer, the 31st seed.
Youzhny had no answer for Federer’s majestic game, but leaves the tournament having eclipsed his previous best of the fourth round.
The Russian veteran said it was no surprise that Federer, 30, was approaching the summit of the world rankings once more.
“I heard that after the tournament (Federer) can again become the first, in the best of circumstances,” Youzhny said.
“Judge for yourself: if a person at the dusk of his career returns from third place to the first, if you call it dusk - we have a different understanding of tennis.”
Youzhny, who has never won against Federer, suffering 14 defeats since 2000, still hopes to beat the Swiss player some day.
“This is still my dream. I can’t say right now if it is possible, but I want to play as many matches as possible against him,” said the Russian.
Youzhny, 33rd in the world rankings, was the last Russian to be eliminated from the men’s or women’s draw after Maria Kirilenko narrowly lost out to third seed Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 in the quarterfinals.
–IANS/RIA Novosti
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Tags: approaching the summit, circumstances, decline, dusk, florian mayer, majestic game, maria kirilenko, match, mikhail youzhny, novak djokovic, ria novosti, roger federer, suffering, surprise, swiss player, tennis, veteran, victory, wimbledon, wimbledon quarterfinals