This is my favourite tournament."As for his place among the greats, Federer said: "It's more up to other people to judge where I am in the context of sport, but with the Laureus Sports Award that I received a few weeks ago, I think it clearly shows that I'm not only competing against other tennis players, but against other sports as well."I'm basically carrying the flag for tennis. Hopefully, I can achieve the dream."I will have to play more tournaments on clay against those clay-court players. He is keen to fulfil his potential by winning more Grand Slam titles, including the French Open on the slow clay of Paris, where in common with players like Pete Sampras, Boris Becker and Jimmy Connors, he has failed to dominate.Without the French title, Federer will be unable to take his place in the history books with the five men who have completed a collection of the four Grand Slam singles titles: Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and Andre Agassi."Somehow," Federer said yesterday, "the motivation is very big to eventually get the French Open That is the big goal I have shown I can win the other Grand Slams The French will be a big goal until the end of my career. Were he alive today, he may well express similar thoughts about the talent of Roger Federer. After securing the Wimbledon men's singles title for the third time in a row, the 23-year-old Swiss world No 1 admitted: "I amaze myself how incredibly I use my talent to win. "Those who have followed me since I was a youngster knew I had potential. But I don't think anybody would have ever thought it would be this extreme, basically dominating the game."That was certainly the case on Sunday, when Federer dazzled Andy Roddick, beating the 22-year-old American in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6, 6-4.Nonetheless, Federer sees room for improvement.
The wonderful Geoffrey Green once wrote that defining George Best's talent was akin to "trying to trap a sunbeam in a matchbox" Green also wrote beautifully about tennis. Auckland: B Ward; I Nacewa, B Atiga, S Tuitupou, J Rokocoko; T Lavea, S Devine; S Taumoepeau, S Telefoni, J Afoa, B Mika, B Williams, J Collins (capt), D Braid, A MacDonald.. Replacements: A Titterrell (Sale and England), M Stevens (Bath and England), B Cockbain (Ospreys and Wales), M Corry (Leicester and England), C Cusiter (Borders and Scotland), R O'Gara (Munster and Ireland), S Horgan (Leinster and Ireland). BRITISH AND IRISH LIONS (v Auckland at Eden Park, kick-off 8.10am BST; Live Sky Sports 1): G Murphy (Leicester and Ireland); M Cueto (Sale and England), G D'Arcy (Leinster and Ireland), W Greenwood (Harlequins and England), D Hickie (Leinster and Ireland); C Hodgson (Sale and England), M Dawson (Wasps and England); G Rowntree (Leicester and England), G Bulloch (Glasgow and Scotland, capt), J Hayes (Munster and Ireland), S Shaw (Wasps and England), B Kay (Leicester and England), J White (Leicester and England), M Williams (Cardiff Blues and Wales), M Owen (Newport Gwent Dragons and Wales). Meanwhile, the senior All Blacks have summoned the centre Luke McAlister and the hooker Corey Flynn, both of whom played influential roles for the Maori in their victory over the Lions in Hamilton. McAlister is covering the midfield position vacated by the injured Aaron Mauger, while Flynn has been added because of a knee injury suffered by Derren Witcombe. Auckland, by far the most potent non-Test opponents on the itinerary with the obvious exception of the New Zealand Maori, have a long tradition of success against Lions teams and with Eden Park expecting a capacity audience of more than 45,000, the immediate challenge is more than a little intimidating, especially as Pat Lam, the provincial coach, has included players of the calibre of Joe Rokocoko, Ben Atiga and Saimone Taumoepeau, hot from the Junior All Blacks' tour of Australia.
Unlike last week, when Shane Williams and Donncha O'Callaghan were promoted to the Saturday side on the strength of their contribution to the sporting massacre perpetrated on Manawatu, there appear to be precious few serious contenders this time Hodgson and Geordan Murphy? Certainly Gordon Bulloch and Simon Shaw? Perhaps Such thoughts are still 24 hours away, however. I've taken a lot of stick this past year and it's made me thicker-skinned. I find it easier to take the knocks." The Lions will reveal their hand for the third Test tomorrow, once the fitness issues surrounding Wilkinson and his fellow midfielder, the Welsh centre Gavin Henson, have been clarified. "I've made the odd mistake in defence on this tour but generally speaking, I feel I've made a massive improvement in that area of my game I believe I'm mentally stronger, too. Hence the obsession with a semi-fit, under-prepared Wilkinson. But the stand-off from Sale believes his tackling has improved immeasurably since he toured New Zealand with England a year ago and played in both Tests "That's been an ongoing thing," he said. I hope I've made selection difficult, that I've at least made it awkward for the coaches to pick other people for the Tests." To be blunt, Hodgson has long been viewed - and continues to be viewed, in all probability - as a defensive liability.