The one match that people remember

very clearly, even before you became as great as you’ve become,

was when you beat Sampras at Wimbledon – outstanding match, tell us about it.

Well, you have to imagine Pete was my hero growing up,

so when I played Pete at Wimbledon that year,

we walked on court together

and I remember I was so nervous.

I was shivering

walking on court, I was, I had cold hands,

there was this belief that I was just hitting tennis balls with Pete.

But I knew that if potentially

I found you know, a good start into the match,

who knows, I have a chance to win.

I believed in that I guessed,

all along and I ended up winning 7-5 in the fifth set,

and it was my first Wimbledon centre court appearance.

He’s done it! The Champion is out!

It was a big moment in my life

and I’m very proud of that I had the chance to actually play against Pete.

was a big dream come true for me.

Two years later

you end up winning your first major

and

it happens to be the holy grail of Tennis – Wimbledon.

The circumstances were tough

just because I knew that my mental strength was very weak back then.

I, you know, sometimes lost matches before I even walked on court.

And then when Wimbledon

got underway actually I started to feel really good,

I had a good draw,

and then all of a sudden I think in my third or fourth round

match my back completely locked up on me.

I kind of came through that match, I don’t know how,

and I was in the semis.

I played the most incredible match

against Roddick and then against, in the finals, against Phillipoussis.

Game, set and match – Federer

It was just this perfect scenario for me at the end after

having to fight through injury, that opened the gate

unlocking my potential.

Only when I won my first Wimbledon did I feel that things were really coming together.

I have many more which

love and I could talk hours about but the first one was very, very special.

For me, obviously Wimbledon is just perfection,

you know, everything that the tournament does is you know,

I love it, you know.

Whether it’s the ivy on the wall, whether it’s the perfect cut grass

I don’t know, it all just makes sense to me.

That’s what I really appreciate about Wimbledon the most.

You just talked about precision and perfection,

which is what Rolex embodies,

and that of course married to Wimbledon.

How good is that both for Wimbledon and for tennis in general?

Well I think it’s wonderful that a brand like Rolex

has stayed the partner of the most important tournament

in the world for such a long period of time

I mean, they embody both all the grace and the excellence

And It’s subtle, it’s a nice partnership and

and I think the players can profit from what a classy event and a brand Rolex is.

Another Rolex Rendezvous