Winning a Wimbledon tennis title is tough enough. To retain it takes something truly special.
Roger Federer will require a superhuman effort to hold on to his crown as he faces a devilishly difficult draw.
Federer is ranked world No 1 by a huge margin - almost 1000 computer points - having played three fewer tournaments than his closest rival, Andy Roddick.
But still the supremely gifted, 22-year-old Swiss will have to dig deeper than ever before if he is to survive the rocky road Wimbledon organisers paved for him in yesterday's draw.
Such is the depth in men's tennis that Federer could come a cropper in any round - he could meet former Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson in the third and the tallest man in tennis, the 2.08m Ivo Karlovic, in the fourth.
But his first major test looms in the quarter-finals where he is seeded to meet the man whose Wimbledon title he took, Lleyton Hewitt.
Federer cites Hewitt, second-seed Roddick and Britain's Tim Henman as his biggest threats. Fortunately, he believes he is in even better shape to handle them this year than when he blew away allcomers in 2003.
Tennis: Pressure on Federer to retain Wimbledon title
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