Federer says he, not Nadal favourite to win Wimbledon again

London, June 23 : Rejecting former Wimbledon champion Bjorn Borg's contention that Spaniard Rafael Nadal is the favourite to win this year's championship, incumbent Roger Federer insists that he is still the favourite to win it for a sixth successive time.

Borg has said that Federer was only his third favourite to win the championship, behind Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at one and two respectively.

World No 1 Fed, 26, has not enjoyed a good year by his standards, losing in the semi-finals of the Australian Open before being humiliated 6-1 6-3 6-0 by world No 2 Nadal in the final of the French Open.

"I feel I'm the big favourite for Wimbledon. It's a huge year for me, going for my sixth. It's not disappointing to hear what Bjorn said, it's just different. I'm surprised, let's put it that way. It's his opinion. I don't mind," The Sun quoted the Swiss tennis star, as saying.

"Getting the fifth title was a dream come true already. It's something that's going to be very hard to match in future. I hope I can match Pete Sampras' record of seven Wimbledons. That's my focus," he added.

Federer, first on Centre Court today against Dominik Hrbaty, has blocked out the pasting by Nadal in Paris.

ANI