Federer stalks triple crown on grass

Nine months without a grand slam title is, on the face of it, something of a drought for the best player in the world.

Roger Federer is not exactly fretting.

The Swiss world number one is the firm favourite to complete a hat-trick of Wimbledon men's singles titles when the grasscourt grand slam gets underway next week.

Despite failing to win either the Australian Open or the French Open this year, the reigning U.S. Open and Wimbledon champion has rarely felt in better shape.

Federer won his third successive Halle grasscourt title last weekend, a perfect dry run for his attempt to do the same at Wimbledon and match the professional era feats of Sweden's Bjorn Borg and American Pete Sampras.

"I'm very pleased. It was a good performance all week long so it's exactly the way I want to feel heading in to Wimbledon," the 23-year-old Federer said, adding modestly: "I'm becoming very consistent mentally and physically and in my game."

THREE DEFEATS

Federer beat Marat Safin, the Russian who knocked him out of the Australian Open semi-finals, in the Halle final, to record his seventh ATP Tour victory of the season.

The win avenged one of only three defeats that he has suffered in 51 matches this year. The other two were by Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal on clay in Monte Carlo and Paris.

Grass, however, is Roger's kingdom.

The gentle, well-mannered Swiss and the pristine, manicured All England Club fit like hand in glove.

Wimbledon has rarely had a more exemplary champion and Federer's performances there usually appear effortless, mesmerising opponents and spectators alike. Before you know it, he has won.

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The Swiss can play every shot in the book and has invented several others. One extraordinary, squash-style forehand half-volley from the mid-court that had even his opponent Andy Roddick applauding in their semi-final two years ago still sticks in the memory.

At Wimbledon, Federer can serve-volley with the best of them, but the tactic bores him. So he usually plays from the baseline, enjoying the groundstroke exchanges that allow him to show off his balletic one-handed, top-spun backhand and penetrative forehand.

UNBEATEN RECORD

Unlike many good grasscourt exponents but in common with almost all the great ones, Federer's game is about much more than power. Angles, accuracy, spin, timing and touch are his weapons of preference.

Occasionally, as in last year's quarter-final with Lleyton Hewitt and the final against Roddick, someone proves good enough to take a set off him and raise the possibility of defeat.

In both those matches Federer reluctantly switched to serve-volley tactics to protect an unbeaten record on grass that now spans 29 matches over three years since a surprise first-round loss in 2002 to Croatian Mario Ancic, when the Swiss was still a developing 20-year-old.

Typically for a player who appears to have very little left to learn on his favourite surface, Federer still uses the lesson of that defeat to his advantage when assessing his Wimbledon prospects.

"I'm confident but there can always be a tough draw and there can always be the shock loss in the first round," he cautioned.

"But I don't really think about it because that was what I was more concerned with last year, defending Wimbledon the first time.

"Now it's for the second time so I think it's easier to cope with this situation than last year."