費德勒優雅謝幕

Roger Federer was magnanimous in defeat on Friday after his hopes of a gold medal in the Olympic singles were extinguished by American James Blake.

The Swiss, who will officially cease to be the world's best tennis player when the new rankings are released on Monday, slid to a 6-4 7-6 defeat on Thursday night as his normally graceful game misfired again.

He had never lost to Blake in eight previous meetings, ceding just one set in that sequence, but he was outplayed on Centre Court as Blake's forehand caught fire.

"It's a big disappointment obviously," the 27-year-old Swiss flag-bearer told reporters in the early hours of Friday after his doubles quarter-final with Stanislas Wawrinka had been called off because of rain.

"The Olympics was one of the goals of the season for me. So obviously the quarter-finals is not going to do it," he said.

"I think James played well. I can only really say how well he played. I've played him on many occasions, but I think this was the best I've seen him.”

"I'm happy for him. I hope he can go all the way now."

Federer's latest setback, following the morale-sapping defeats against Spain's Rafael Nadal in the Roland Garros and Wimbledon finals, will lead to inevitable gossip that his five-year domination of men's tennis is over for good.

The 12-times Grand Slam champion, who blames a lack of proper practicing after an early season illness for his run of poor form, said he could still salvage his season.

"I'm not happy with this tournament. I wish I could have done much more," said Federer.

"But I've still got to look forward to the U.S. Open. I still have that and then the Masters Cup in Shanghai to really do well now and try and save my season," he said.

Blake, playing at his first Olympics, offered a generous take on the Federer debate.

"It's like Tiger Woods. When they don't win every single week, it's called a bad year," Blake told reporters.

"You never see him lose his cool. Never see him break a racket. Never see him berate an umpire. I still have a ton of praise for him. I still have a ton of respect for him as a man."

上週五，羅傑•費德勒優雅謝幕，他的奧運會網球男子單打金牌夢被美國選手詹姆斯•布雷克就此擊破。

新的世界排名將於下週一正式公佈，這位瑞士網球天王的頭把交椅之位也將到此爲止。在週四晚上的比賽中，他的優雅打法再次失利，最終以6比4和7比6敗北。

此前他和布萊克有過８次交鋒，他不但取得全勝，而且一共只讓布萊克贏了一盤。但這次在中央球場，布雷克有如神助，一舉將費德勒拍出了局。

他與搭檔斯丹尼斯拉斯•瓦林卡的雙打1/4決賽因下雨改期後，這位27歲的瑞士旗手在週五一早對記者說：“很顯然，輸球讓我很失落。”

他說：“奧運會是我這個階段的目標之一，而1/4決賽顯然無法讓我達到這個目標。”

“我覺得詹姆斯打得好極了。我只能說他打得太好了。我曾多次和他交手，但我覺得這是他表現得最棒的一次。”

“我爲他感到高興。我希望他能一直這樣走下去。”

這是他繼法網公開賽和溫網決賽賽負於西班牙選手拉斐爾•納達爾之後的又一次挫敗，也就人們開始傳言費德勒把持五年之久的網壇霸主時代就要這樣終結了。

這位12次大滿貫冠軍表示自己表現欠佳是因爲早期賽季的傷情而未能正常訓練，他還說自己會竭力挽救這個賽季。

費德勒說：“我對這次比賽中的表現很不滿意，本來可以打得更好的。”

他說：“不過我還是很期待接下來的美網公開賽。我還有機會，而且還有上海大師杯的比賽，我會好好發揮，盡力挽救這個賽季。”

第一次參加奧運會的布雷克在獲勝後言語之中仍對費德勒讚賞有加。

布雷克對記者說：“感覺就像‘老虎’伍茲一樣，如果有一週的比賽輸了，那一年就都會被列爲糟糕的一年。”

“你從來不會看到他情緒失控，不會見到他摔球拍，也不會看到他和裁判較勁。我還有很多很多的讚美之詞可以送給他。我還是非常尊重他本人的。”