Bud Collins

LONDON - Roger Federer is back at Wimbledon. Back playing on grass, a surface on which he shines brighter than anyone in the game, and on which he can make history this London fortnight.

As the holder of 10 majors, Federer is always dealing with history, always chasing a bygone great, and well aware of it. He's won Wimbledon the last four years and now his quest to equal Bjorn Borg's five consecutive Wimbledon men's singles titles carries with it pressure.

My feeling is that the pressure of the champion's goals is growing heavier, and that there are guys who can beat the top seed this time around -- most prominently second-seeded Rafael Nadal, who took the Swiss maestro to four sets in last year's final, and third-seeded Andy Roddick, a finalist at this major in 2004 and 2005, and winner of the recent grasscourt warm-up at Queen's Club for the fourth time.

Changing targets
Federer's immense talent has drawn him within striking distance of breaking records that define greatness. But the historical outlook changes. A French Open title would have kept him in pursuit of a calendar-year Grand Slam, and had him taking dead aim at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open to complete the feat not achieved by any man since Rod Laver in 1969.

But on the final Sunday of the Paris fortnight Nadal said sorry, Roger, no Grand Slam for you this year. For the third straight year Nadal went about his business with perfection at the French Open, remaining unbeaten in his three appearances at the clay-court major and upping his Roland Garros record to 21-0 by beating Federer 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the men's singles final.

It was another four-set failure on dirt to Nadal for Federer, just like in the 2006 final and the 2005 semifinals. Federer isn't the least bit upset that he won't have to even look at a clay court until next spring, much less step on one.

After the Paris loss, it's forget Laver. Now Federer stalks Borg, the last man to win five consecutive Wimbledons, from 1976 -1980. Federer (2003 - 2006) and Pete Sampras (1997 - 2000) are on four. Borg sought but failed to catch an English ancient, Willie Renshaw, winner of six in a row more than a century ago (1881 - 1886). But this tournament isn't Federer's…yet. There are 127 other guys at the Big W, and not many of them give a damn about history or Federer's private struggle with matching or making it.

The path that awaits
Federer has said that winning Wimbledon the last two years has taken away the pain of Paris. “It's not so bad if a few weeks later you win Wimbledon, which is the most important.” His father said that Federer thought of nothing else but the French Open after capturing the Australian Open in January. That's a long time to dwell on an object of affection in this game. Maybe a shorter period of longing is more manageable emotionally?

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Sixteen days after his third straight Paris put-down by Nadal, Federer will be the man entrusted with opening this Wimbledon. Once the four-time champion leads off on Centre Court, the 130-year-old grand-daddy of all tournaments is under way, the lone major test on God's own sod. It's a fine champion's tradition that ought to be adopted by the other three majors that casually sort of stumble into a first-day schedule each year.

Federer might get an early test if he faces 26th-seeded Marat Safin, a former world No. 1, in the third round. The two have only met once on grass, in 2005 in Germany when Federer took a three-setter that was anything but a walk in the park.

In the fourth round there's the potential for Federer to go against Dmitry Tursunov, a dangerous Russian player who is seeded 21st. They've gone to battle just twice, Federer prevailing both times, but in their last encounter in 2006 Tursunov took a set from Federer in losing a three-setter in Toronto.

The quarterfinal possibilities for Federer include going against ninth-seeded James Blake or fifth-seeded Fernando Gonzalez. The Swiss should have no worries about Blake or Gonzalez. He is 6-0 against the American, and 10-0 against the Chilean.

Then there's the possibility of Roddick (1-13 vs. Federer) in the semifinals, Nadal (8-4 vs. Federer) in the final, and perhaps a place in the history books after that.

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