Swiss teen Roger Federer said it was all down to an ability to relax in the face of adversity after causing one of the great sporting upsets with on Monday's defeat of grasscourt king Pete Sampras which ended the champion's dreams of a record eighth title. Federer was as cool as a cucumber - usually the domain where Sampras excels like no one else - as he won a titanic five-setter 7-6 (9/7) 5-7 6-4, 6-7 (2/7) 7-5 to set up a quarter-final against either British sixth seed Tim Henman or us veteran Todd Martin.
And the 19-year-old - with his long hair and headband Switzerland's answer to Bjorn Borg - revealed that he'd seen the light only recently after a frail temperament threatened the realisation of the potential which first surfaced, when he won the junior title in London in 1998.
Federer wasn't the first - and certainly won't be the last - to suffer from tennis tantrums - but few are blessed with as much talent to throw away as he is and it looked as if he might stumble on his way to the top of the game. The bad temper primarily manifested itself in the form of racket-throwing - and as Federer admits, he was a bit of a spoilt brat as the junior successes started to come his way.
"I was throwing my racquet around like you probably don't imagine - helicopters were flying all over," he laughed, clearly cringing at the memory.
"I mean, I was getting kicked out of practice sessions non-stop when I was 16."
Bureau Report