Federer classy even in defeat

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."

上周五，罗杰•费德勒优雅谢幕，他的奥运会网球男子单打金牌梦被美国选手詹姆斯•布雷克就此击破。

新的世界排名将于下周一正式公布，这位瑞士网球天王的头把交椅之位也将到此为止。在周四晚上的比赛中，他的优雅打法再次失利，最终以6比4和7比6败北。

此前他和布莱克有过８次交锋，他不但取得全胜，而且一共只让布莱克赢了一盘。但这次在中央球场，布雷克有如神助，一举将费德勒拍出了局。

他与搭档斯丹尼斯拉斯•瓦林卡的双打1/4决赛因下雨改期后，这位27岁的瑞士旗手在周五一早对记者说：“很显然，输球让我很失落。”

他说：“奥运会是我这个阶段的目标之一，而1/4决赛显然无法让我达到这个目标。”

“我觉得詹姆斯打得好极了。我只能说他打得太好了。我曾多次和他交手，但我觉得这是他表现得最棒的一次。”

“我为他感到高兴。我希望他能一直这样走下去。”

这是他继法网公开赛和温网决赛赛负于西班牙选手拉斐尔•纳达尔之后的又一次挫败，也就人们开始传言费德勒把持五年之久的网坛霸主时代就要这样终结了。

这位12次大满贯冠军表示自己表现欠佳是因为早期赛季的伤情而未能正常训练，他还说自己会竭力挽救这个赛季。

费德勒说：“我对这次比赛中的表现很不满意，本来可以打得更好的。”

他说：“不过我还是很期待接下来的美网公开赛。我还有机会，而且还有上海大师杯的比赛，我会好好发挥，尽力挽救这个赛季。”

第一次参加奥运会的布雷克在获胜后言语之中仍对费德勒赞赏有加。

布雷克对记者说：“感觉就像‘老虎’伍兹一样，如果有一周的比赛输了，那一年就都会被列为糟糕的一年。”

“你从来不会看到他情绪失控，不会见到他摔球拍，也不会看到他和裁判较劲。我还有很多很多的赞美之词可以送给他。我还是非常尊重他本人的。”