How Many Magical Wimbledon Moments Does Roger Federer Have Left?

Roger Federer, the grass-court sorcerer, pulled off a few tricks yesterday in his first-round win at Wimbledon.

Wielding his racket like a magic wand, Federer vanquished Guido Pella, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-3. Presto: an ace. Abracadabra: backhand down the line. Poof: game, set, match. 

Eighteen years and more than 1,300 matches into his career, Federer continues to mesmerize. However, his 35th birthday is mere weeks away. Just how many more magical moments does Federer have left? 

Getting past an unseeded player in the first round at Wimbledon used to be a given for Federer. That was before age and injury compromised his game.

Still, against Pella, Federer found ways to conjure up enough wizardry to wow the crowd.

Sure, he no longer sprints to the net. But he gets there, and when he does, he hits some of the sweetest volleys ever seen.

His record-tying seven Wimbledon titles are a testament to his grass-court mastery. He learned the game when John McEnroe, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg ruled Wimbledon with the serve-and-volley. 

Federer is the bridge between that bygone era and the current ATP World Tour, now populated with super-fit baseliners. 

Ten years ago, Michael Stich analyzed Federer's game for the Guardian; Stich sought to explain why Federer dominated the tour back then: 

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Federer is not a classic serve-and-volley player like Edberg, Becker and myself. We would have given him a game he is not used to playing. If you look back to that time, the courts and the balls were faster, so it was possible to serve and volley on both the first and second serves. The variety of game you need to play against Federer - the one that will unsettle him and beat him - is played by hardly anyone these days. 

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That was before Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic emerged. Even after Nadal and Djokovic began winning Grand Slams, Federer found a way to stay near the top. He won his last Grand Slam at Wimbledon in 2012.

The grass surface offers him his best—and perhaps last—chance to win another Slam.

His old-school one-handed backhand, textbook-sound serve and solid volleys are enough to beat most players on the Tour. After all, Federer reached the Wimbledon final last year. 

But that was a healthy Federer. The slower, more fragile man out there now is not the one who survived a five-set classic against Andy Roddick in the 2009 Wimbledon final. 

As ESPN's Greg Garber pointed out: 

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Back in the day, Federer used to roll guys ranked No. 51 in the world in a blink of those steely brown eyes. But coming off a knee surgery to repair a meniscus tear and an aching back that forced him to miss the French Open, he's been a bit dodgy, losing to teenager Alexander Zverev and 22-year-old Dominic Thiem back-to-back weeks on his favorite surface.

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Federer struggled to break serve against Pella—a man who has never won a match in the main draw at Wimbledon. After eight failed attempts, Federer finally broke Pella in the second set.

This year, Federer has battled more injuries than any other time in his career. In February, he injured his knee while giving his twin daughters a bath.

Faced with surgery for the first time in his career, Federer told the Courier-Mail's Leo Schlink, "I just got really disappointed and sad about it because that’s when I really understood what the road was going to look like.”

In May, Federer withdrew from the French Open with a back injury. This broke a streak of 65 consecutive Grand Slam appearances. 

He returned to the courts and played in a couple of grass-court tune-ups. He spoke with The Independent's Paul Newman, about working his way back into form. “I need to focus on myself, getting myself into those positions—meaning the second week—and growing momentum. Then, hopefully, the whole thing starts rolling. Clearly what’s important is getting there, getting the job done in the first week.” 

Up next is No. 772 Marcus Willis, a guy who, before Wimbledon, had earned less than $292 in prize money this season. Willis still lives with his parents. Federer lives in a multimillion-dollar glass house and has earned more than $98 million in career prize money. 

Surely Federer can get past Willis? Maybe. Even if he does, how realistic is it for him to do anything in Week 2? 

FoxSports' Chris Chase thinks Federer's chances are slim. Chase wrote,"He probably hasn't entered Wimbledon with lower expectations since 2001—the first year he was seeded. Getting another crack at Djokovic would be considered a win. As for the titular question, no, I don't think so."

Yet when Federer showed flashes of brilliance, like he did against Pella, it's hard to count him out. 

Perhaps the light burden of lower expectations is exactly what Federer needs. Tennis.com's Nina Pantic seems to think so. She wrote, "History might not repeat itself, as Federer hasn’t been healthy for most of the season and is now 34 years old. But a free-flowing seven-time Wimbledon champion is more dangerous than anyone in this draw."

Indeed he is. He has a wealth of experience to rely on. No longer the best in the game, Federer is still one of the greatest of all time, especially on grass. 

If he can dig deep into his bag of tricks and win another Wimbledon title. That would be truly magical. 

Merlisa Lawrence Corbett covers tennis for Bleacher Report. Follow her on Twitter @merlisa.