Roger Federer Reveals Three-Month Battle With Hand Injury - UBITENNIS

Roger Federer Reveals Three-Month Battle With Hand Injury

The Swiss world No.3 has shared details about an injury issue has has been coping with for the first time.

By Adam Addicott
4 Min Read

20-time grand slam champion Roger Federer has confirmed for the first time that he has been affected by a hand injury that he sustained earlier this year.

The 37-year-old, who last won a title in June at the Stuttgart Open, said he suffered the injury at the start of the grass season. During an interview with Sonntags Zeitung, Federer refuses to attribute his results on the tour to the problem. Since Wimbledon, he has only played in three tournaments held at Cincinnati, New York (US Open) and Beijing. Cincinnati was the only one of those where he reached the final.

“I hurt my hand in training at the start of the grass season,” Federer explained. “I feel that it has had more consequences than I thought. I dragged this pain for about three months. That should not be an excuse, and we’re not going to make a fuss about it.”

Elaborating further about his hand, the Swiss player confirmed that he experienced pain until last month. Affecting the way he hit his forehand shots. Although Federer insists that the pain has now completely gone.

“For moments, I still had pain during the first ten minutes, during warm-up for example. But now, I can let go of my forehand normally, without thinking of my hand.” He said.

The revelation was made ahead of the Swiss Indoors. A tournament Federer has already won a record eight times. He is hoping to close out the year on a high with a shot at the year-end No.1 ranking. Also in the running is a resurgent Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Nadal is currently sidelined from the tour due to injury.

To clay or not to clay?

Already qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals for the 16th time in his career, the world No.3 has given an indication about his plans for next year. Speculation is mounting about if Federer will play any clay-court tournaments. Over the past two years he has opted to skip the surface in order to rest his body ahead of the grass-court swing.

“After the ATP finals in London (November 11-18) , I’m going to take a vacation. I would like to decide during this period if I’m going back to clay in 2019 – or not. And if so, how many tournaments? This decision will have influence on all my planning and preparation.”

Whilst plans for 2019 is in motion, the same can’t be said for the following year. As the oldest player in the current top 100, many wonder when Federer will decide to hang up his racket for good. Asked if he plans to play at the 2020 Olympics, he gave a rather candid response.

“It seems so far away … I would obviously like to play the Olympics at 39, but will I still be in the game at that time? I’ve no idea.” He said.

Federer’s decision to play at the Tokyo Olympics could be influenced by his sponsor. Earlier this year he secured a 10-year contract with Japanese clothing company Uniqlo. A dealt worth an estimated $300 million. He is expected to play in an exhibition tournament held in the country at some point next year.

Federer will start his campaign at the Swiss Indoors on Tuesday against Filip Krajinović.

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