WIMBLEDON, England — Every year, by the last few days of the Wimbledon championships, the grass on Centre Court becomes chewed up and its former emerald glow fades to a dingy, gray-brown. The process is an accelerated horticultural version of the aging process that all athletes ultimately face.
But one man standing on that patchy turf on Friday has mostly defied all the normal expectations brought on by age and natural deterioration.
Roger Federer, who will turn 36 in a few weeks, won his 18th Grand Slam tournament in January on the hard courts of Melbourne, Australia.