Roger Federer has claimed that nagging injuries played a part in his early exit from this year's Wimbledon.
Six-time champion still positive after quarter-final loss
Roger Federer has claimed that nagging injuries played a part in his early exit from this year's Wimbledon.
The Swiss world number two, a six-time winner at the All England Club, failed to reach the final for the first time in eight years after crashing out at the hands of Tomas Berdych on Wednesday.
Federer had previously reached at least the last four in 23 consecutive grand slams before losing in the quarter-finals at both the French Open and Wimbledon in 2010.
But the 28-year-old has been relatively pleased with his recent performances when his current physical problems are taken into account.
Decent
"Quarters is a decent result. Obviously people think quarters is shocking but people would die to play in the quarter-final stages of a grand slam," Federer said.
"It's not something I'm used to doing, losing in quarter-finals.
"Today was a different story than Paris. I couldn't play the way I wanted to play. I have been struggling with a little bit of a back and a leg issue since the final in Halle (in early June).
"You can't concentrate on each and every point because you do feel the pain sometimes. And then you tend to play differently than the way you want to play.
"Under the circumstances I think I played a decent match. But I've been feeling bad for the last two, three matches now.
"It's just not good and healthy to play under these kind of conditions. So if there's anything good about this it's that I'm going to get some rest."
Decline?
Federer's early exits at Wimbledon and Roland Garros has led some to speculate that his career could be in permanent decline, but the 16-time grand slam winner insists he can challenge for more titles.
He added: "I can't wait for Paris and Wimbledon to come around next year, that's for sure, because they've been frustrating tournaments for me."
Berdych admitted he was feeling the nerves when serving for the match but was pleased with the way he held his game together to close out the victory, even after seeing one match point go begging.
He said: "I would say through all my career matches, this one was the toughest one to close out - against Roger on Centre Court in Wimbledon. It's pretty tough.
"But I handled it pretty well. I didn't lose it."
He added: "Not many other moments can be compared to this one. It couldn't be better. But still there is one match to have better feelings than this one."