London — Twelve months after shutting down his season in the wake of a devastating semifinal defeat, Roger Federer returns to Wimbledon as the favourite to capture a record-breaking eighth title and become the tournament’s oldest champion. The Swiss superstar, who turns 36 in August, has stunned the critics who had written him off when he went down to Milos Raonic in five gruelling sets on Centre Court in 2016. The loss forced him off tour for the remainder of the year to rest a knee injury, leaving his Grand Slam title count on 17 where it had been since 2012. Fast forward a year and Federer is poised to break the tie for seven Wimbledon titles he shares with Pete Sampras and take his career tally at the tennis Majors to 19. With rivals Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in slumps of varying lengths and degrees of seriousness, and Rafael Nadal fretting over whether or not his knees will bear the stress of the grass courts, it is Federer who is in the box seat. Federer, who captured a f...
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