Roger 'partied like a rock star' - yet again

Croaky and hungover, Roger Federer could barely recall where he had been as he celebrated until dawn, but he was soon smiling as that warm feeling of waking up as Wimbledon champion seeped back into his mind yesterday.

After his surprise win in the Australian Open in January, Federer said he had "partied like a rock star", and he was at it again following his record eighth Wimbledon triumph on Sunday that took his career Grand Slam tally to 19.

Sitting proudly reunited with his favourite trophy back at a near-deserted Wimbledon, the 35-year-old Swiss told reporters: "My head is ringing; I don't know what I did last night. I drank too many different types of drinks, I guess.

"After the ball we went to, I guess it was a bar, with 30 or 40 friends and had a great time. I got to bed about five and woke up not feeling too good."

Federer started to feel better as he thought back to his straight sets dismissal of Marin Cilic, along with the realisation that a few weeks short of his 36th birthday, having had six months out of the game to recover his fitness, he was still able to produce tennis of a quality nobody else in the game can match.

Asked if he was now targeting a 20th slam, or perhaps 10 Wimbledon titles, he said he had learned from his six months out not
to look too far ahead.

"The target now is to enjoy being Wimbledon champion," he said. "I haven't set a sight on a number of grand slams; I was very content at 17, that was a wonderful number. So was 18, and now 19 is great.

Federer's eighth Wimbledon triumph was his most emphatic yet - he is the first player since Bjorn Bjorg in 1976 to do it without the loss of a set.