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The Championships Wimbledon
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The one match that people remember
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very clearly, even before you became as great as you’ve become,
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was when you beat Sampras at Wimbledon – outstanding match, tell us about it.
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Well, you have to imagine Pete was my hero growing up,
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so when I played Pete at Wimbledon that year,
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we walked on court together
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and I remember I was so nervous.
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I was shivering
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walking on court, I was, I had cold hands,
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there was this belief that I was just hitting tennis balls with Pete.
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But I knew that if potentially
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I found you know, a good start into the match,
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who knows, I have a chance to win.
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I believed in that I guessed,
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all along and I ended up winning 7-5 in the fifth set,
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and it was my first Wimbledon centre court appearance.
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He’s done it! The Champion is out!
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It was a big moment in my life
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and I’m very proud of that I had the chance to actually play against Pete.
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was a big dream come true for me.
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Two years later
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you end up winning your first major
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and
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it happens to be the holy grail of Tennis – Wimbledon.
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The circumstances were tough
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just because I knew that my mental strength was very weak back then.
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I, you know, sometimes lost matches before I even walked on court.
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And then when Wimbledon
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got underway actually I started to feel really good,
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I had a good draw,
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and then all of a sudden I think in my third or fourth round
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match my back completely locked up on me.
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I kind of came through that match, I don’t know how,
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and I was in the semis.
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I played the most incredible match
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against Roddick and then against, in the finals, against Phillipoussis.
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Game, set and match – Federer
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It was just this perfect scenario for me at the end after
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having to fight through injury, that opened the gate
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unlocking my potential.
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Only when I won my first Wimbledon did I feel that things were really coming together.
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I have many more which
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love and I could talk hours about but the first one was very, very special.
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For me, obviously Wimbledon is just perfection,
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you know, everything that the tournament does is you know,
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I love it, you know.
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Whether it’s the ivy on the wall, whether it’s the perfect cut grass
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I don’t know, it all just makes sense to me.
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That’s what I really appreciate about Wimbledon the most.
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You just talked about precision and perfection,
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which is what Rolex embodies,
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and that of course married to Wimbledon.
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How good is that both for Wimbledon and for tennis in general?
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Well I think it’s wonderful that a brand like Rolex
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has stayed the partner of the most important tournament
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in the world for such a long period of time
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I mean, they embody both all the grace and the excellence
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And It’s subtle, it’s a nice partnership and
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and I think the players can profit from what a classy event and a brand Rolex is.
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Another Rolex Rendezvous