Associated Press 17y

Federer's goals for '07: French title, then Wimbledon

Tennis

LONDON -- Among Roger Federer's resolutions for the new
year: Winning a first French Open title and a fifth straight
Wimbledon crown.

"[Winning the] French Open will definitely be a dream come true
but on top of the list there is always Wimbledon and staying No.
1," Federer said. "These are the ones that changed my life and
made me the player and person I am today."

Federer reached his first final at Roland Garros in May, and
lost to No. 2 Rafael Nadal in four sets. Since the beginning of
2004, Nadal is the only player to have beaten Federer multiple
times.

"You need the competition -- some get more lucky, some get more
unlucky," Federer told the BBC. "But we have a great set of
players at the moment like Nadal, [Andy] Roddick, [Lleyton] Hewitt,
[Marat] Safin, [David] Nalbandian and new ones coming like [Ivan]
Ljubicic and [Nikolay] Davydenko."

The Swiss star reached 16 finals in the 17 events he entered in
2006 -- including a victory at the U.S. Open -- and became the first
player to earn more than $8 million in a season.

The 25-year-old enters 2007 knowing he can eclipse Jimmy
Connors' record 160 weeks at No. 1 with his third Australian Open
title in January.

"I have a big motivation because when I come back to Australia
it's one of my favorite tournaments and the weather is perfect for
me," Federer said. "It's one of my special goals for 2007 to play
well in Australia."

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