ITF

12 ITFWORLD SUMMER 2017 ROLAND GARROS AND WIMBLEDON BACK W hen it comes to rewriting the record books in tennis, both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have led many a chapter. But entering 2017, how many would have tipped the dynamic duo for Grand Slam success? Federer's form — not to mention health — was a question mark after taking six months off last year to recover from a knee injury, while a wrist problem was the latest in a seemingly endless list of ailments to sidetrack the Spaniard. Yet here we are with more than half of the season completed and the two are once again the leading men, with Federer bagging a second major of 2017 and 19th overall by triumphing at Wimbledon, and Nadal landing 'La Decima' at the French Open. It certainly was not the first time that Federer won Wimbledon and Nadal the French Open in the same year — it has happened five times now to be precise — but it was the first time they did not concede a set at those tournaments in the same year. Federer won all the big points ahead of the Wimbledon final against Marin Cilic, prevailing in all five tiebreaks he contested. He cruised, unlike at the Australian Open when the now 36-year-old scrapped through a trio of fifth sets. Having become the first man to win eight times at the All England Club and the oldest men's champion there since 1930, it is not out of the question that he can, Nadal lifts the Roland Garros trophy for a peerless tenth time

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