Fragile Federer??

Stop the press. Hold the front page. Roger Federer – the coolest customer in London since Bjorn Borg was patrolling the lawns – has admitted to suffering from pre-match nerves.

The first hint of any emotion behind the ice-cool façade came on Friday after Federer had seen off Marc Gicquel in a flawless straight sets display. “I’m always a little nervous before a match, and that’s a good thing,” he explained when asked about his overall feeling about the tournament so far. On Monday, after giving Lleyton Hewitt the three-set treatment, the seemingly unflappable world No. 1 was more specific.

“There were no breaks in the first set because we both played well, but I couldn’t return how I wanted to.

“Things go so quickly on grass – if your opponent’s serving and 30-0 up there’s nothing you can do. I was very nervous before the match – it took me five games to settle down and that’s why I couldn’t play well from the baseline. I was more efficient after that.

“Sometimes nerves help you play better. And obviously when I’m playing people like [Andy] Roddick, [Marat] Safin, Hewitt, you get more nervous. I always have the same ritual before all opponents – when I warm up, when I eat, getting taped and all that – and it should calm me down but it doesn’t always work,” said Federer in a surprisingly frank confession.

Once he is into his stride, however, there is little that can throw him off his stride – even Hawk-Eye challenges in a tense tie-break. Federer has never been the biggest fan of this new and exciting technology, as he again made clear.

“I was surprised when that call went against me [at 2-0] but if you’ve got three or four challenges left by the time you get to the tie-break, you might as well use them. I was surprised when the ball was called in but I got over it.

“And then I used one later in the tie-break even though I thought I had no chance – and it worked. So there you go.”

In Hewitt, the Swiss was also facing one of the more excitable players on the circuit but again Federer remained unruffled.

“I knew he’d get worked up so I was prepared for it. I used to get more worked up against Lleyton, but I’m calmer in general now against all players. It doesn’t help me to get more emotional and it would play into his hands.”

So the good news for his opponents is that Federer is human after all. The bad news is, he knows where his one flaw lies and is already working to correct it. Finals day could well give us an indication of how he is controlling his pre-match nerves.