Roger amazed by Federer at Wimbo

With muscle in my right hand

Roger Federer suffered one of the greatest shocks in Wimbledon history as he was blown off Centre Court by Ukrainian unknown Sergiy Stakhovsky. The defending champion and 16-time Grand Slam winner lost 6-7 7-6 7-5 7-6 to an opponent ranked 116th in the world and who had never previously beaten a top-10 player in his life. Federer, 31, had reached the quarter-finals or better in his last 36 Grand Slams. But that remarkable run was brought to a stunning end as 27-year-old Stakhovsky — an 80-1 shot to win the match — brought a crazy day at SW19 to an unbelievable end. Federer said: “I have had many great moments here but I have also had some tough ones and you can’t have it all.“This is not the end of an era. I still have plans to play for many more years to come and I’m looking forward to coming back here next year.“It’s a tough loss and big disappointment and I certainly appreciated the standing ovation I got leaving the court.

It was only a month ago that the extrovert Stakhovsky was fined £1,250 for getting his phone out during the middle of his French Open defeat by Richard Gasquet to tweet a picture of a disputed line call.But that is small change compared to the £63,000 he is guaranteed to pocket after toppling the greatest player in the history of the men’s game.The journeyman from Kiev admitted: “When you play Roger Federer at Wimbledon it’s like playing two people.“You’re playing the guy and you’re playing the legend. My only plan before the game was to hope that he didn’t get too far away from me.“It’s a fantastic day and I couldn't have played any better. It’s just magic.

“Now I can tell my grand kids that I kicked the butt of Roger Federer!”Swiss Federer, with more grass court titles than any other player, simply could not come to terms with Stakhovsky’s bold serve-and-volley tactics.Even after edging a first-set tie-break, the No 3 seed was never able to take control of an opponent who came to the net at every opportunity. And Stakhovsky was rewarded for his bravery when he finally secured the first service break of the match deep into the third set to take a lead he never surrendered. Federer refused to blame Wimbledon’s decision to ban him from wearing his orange-soled shoes for this amazing defeat and insisted he only lost because he failed to take advantage of his opportunities. But nothing was going to ruin Stakhovsky’s big day as he said: “Roger is the greatest player and a person and one who has shown that you can be a decent man and still achieve things.”It was a dramatic tournament for all who participated that night.