Old Federer spells doom for rivals

By Pritha Sarkar

LONDON (Reuters) - Roger Federer will set about extending his collection of grand slam titles way beyond the record breaking 15th he won at Wimbledon, after declaring on Monday that the 'old Federer' was back.

Those words should have all his rivals quivering in their shoes.

"(Eighteen or 19 slam wins) definitely seems possible. I've reached 16 out of 17 grand slam finals in a row now, so I definitely have a shot for the next few years," the 27-year-old, who beat Andy Roddick in five titanic sets in the Wimbledon final, told a small group of invited journalists on Monday.

In case anyone has forgotten, the old Federer was ranked on top of the tennis world for a record 237 weeks, collected around a dozen titles a year and relished the opportunity to pulverise his opponents.

By his own high standards Federer went through a lean patch in 2008, when he suffered a bout of glandular fever at the start of the season and then reached three grand slam finals but only lifted the U.S. Open.

He lost his number one ranking to Rafael Nadal last August but recaptured that crown with his Wimbledon triumph.

On Sunday Federer was hailed as "an icon and a legend" by Pete Sampras -- the man whose milestone of 14 slams he obliterated from the record books -- and the Swiss said on Monday he was eager to add more weight to his already creaking trophy cabinet.

"I'm still young in tennis terms, I think. It's only after 30 the clock starts ticking, you know, how many more years you've got left in your mind... because normally it's also the body that gives," Federer said on Monday.