After several years of not being the favourite, Roger Federer has suddenly catapulted back to being the outright favoured player to win the Wimbledon men’s singles title this year.

Part of this stems from the Swiss’ performance at the Gerry Weber Open, two weeks prior to the start of Wimbledon. Just as it is borrowed heavily from the near-perfectness of the script he has written so far this season, starting with winning the Australian Open in January.

Perhaps for the first time since his last title at Wimbledon in 2012, Federer’s grass court game is sharper than all his immediate rivals coming into the tournament.

The singular dominance

Often, through the swaying years of this past decade, Rafael Nadal and Federer have come to be synonymous with their respective domination on their surface of choice. Clay for the former, and grass for the latter. Then again, while the Spaniard has been miserly in allowing his opponents any speck of chance on the dirt, Federer’s opponents have had a relatively freer rein when it has come to defeating him on grass, including at Wimbledon.

It’s then despite these defeats that the seven-time Wimbledon champion’s prolific grass-court aptitude is vaunted. It makes him not just peerless, but puts him on a pedestal among past legends of the sport.

Matches played on grass in the Open Era

As it stands, Federer is fifth in the all-time list of players with most matches played on grass [in the Open Era], with former world No 1 Jimmy Connors leading the tally. Contrastingly, when it comes to most number of matches won on the surface, Federer is right behind the American’s total of 185 with 157 wins of his own. In terms of percentage conversion, Federer thus also has a higher rate of match wins – 86.7% to Connors’ 83.3%.

What puts more focus on Federer’s greatness on grass is also the fact that apart from Connors and Phil Dent – 206 matches played and 135 matches won on grass – the names of the players in both categories vary immensely. It’s also then relevant to note that the 18-time Grand Slam champion is the only active player across both listing.

This also makes an effective summation about the longevity of his career, which has seen him make notable changes to his playing style instead of adhering to just one tactical key-point. Especially contrasting with Ken Rosewall, a player whose successful career was extensively mapped on either side of the Pre-Open and Open Era of the sport.

When numbers determine priorities

Federer’s success on grass court also includes a record number of finals contested and titles won.

The Swiss has featured in 22 finals on grass – 10 coming at Wimbledon alone, a tied record with Nadal for the most number of finals at a Major – which is four more than Jimmy Connors’ 18 finals played. Federer’s fellow seven-time Wimbledon champion, Pete Sampras, John McEnroe and Rosewall are tied at 13 apiece.

Federer has raked in 16 titles, which is followed by Sampras with 10 and Connors with nine. Rosewall, Andy Murray, Lleyton Hewitt and McEnroe are tied with eight titles each. It is, however, interesting to note that in spite of his record number of titles, Federer’s percentage conversion of wins is second-only to Sampras – 72.7% to the American’s 76.9%.

Addressing his pre-tournament press conference at Wimbledon, Federer told that all roads this season – specifically his intended missing-out on the clay season – led to him being at his best at the Championships. “It [missing the French Open] hurt because it was the first time I pulled out of a Slam actually feeling 100% ready to go,” he stated, about skipping the French Open for the second consecutive year.

With the prospect of reclaiming his Wimbledon glory burning brighter, the trade-off was quite simple in Federer’s mind.

“But this gave me the best chance for the grass, so I would never look back and have regrets once I came here. I don’t want to be at the mercy of my opponent. I want to take charge and play aggressive myself. For that I need to be fast on my feet and quick in my mind. I just need enough rest so I can play enough inspired tennis.”

Bolstered by factual superiority as he is, with unique history awaiting to greet him, Federer’s Wimbledon 2017 campaign is, thus, all set to start off, sixteen years since he first established his name as a player par excellence on grass with an unsuspecting upset of the (then) reigning champion – Pete Sampras.