Roger Federer has stated that he never considered retirement during his recent hiatus from the sport as he bids to return to full fitness in time for his favourite Grand Slam.
The former world No.1 has been absent from the sport for 13 months due to a right knee injury which required two surgical procedures last year. It is the longest in his career that the Swiss Maestro has been away from the sport since he made his Tour debut in 1998. His last competitive match was against Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the 2020 Australian Open.
It could be forgiven to think that due to his injury setback the 20-time Grand Slam champion might be tempted to pull the plug on his record-breaking career. Federer has won 103 ATP titles so far in his career, which is the second highest in history after Jimmy Connors, and has held the world No.1 spot for 310 weeks. A milestone which nemesis Djokovic will surpass on Monday.
“Retirement was never really on the cards. I think it’s more of a conversation if the knee keeps bothering me for months and months – then let’s look at it. This is not the time to think about that, let’s say in the fall of this year,” Federer said during a press conference on Sunday.
“I just feel like the story is not over. It’s not like there’s one particular reason that I wanted to keep playing tennis other than I enjoyed playing tennis, I enjoy being on the road.
“I’m still a work in progress, but probably one of the other reasons for coming back is I want to get that high again of playing against the biggest players and in the biggest tournaments and hopefully winning them again. Hopefully I can play in front of crowds again.”
The venue of Federer’s comeback is Doha where the Qatar Open will be held. A tournament the world No.6 has won on a record three previous occasions but he hasn’t played in since 2012. Whilst he is not expecting an immediate return to top form, Federer has already outlined a deadline as to when he hopes to be able to peak by.
“I‘m very happy to be back playing a tournament again. It’s been a long time, I never thought it would take this long,” Federer said.
“I know I need to go back to training after here again. From this standpoint it’s just about building up (fitness),” he added.
“I hope then by Wimbledon I’m going to be 100 percent and that’s where the season starts for me.”
It was at Wimbledon in 2019 where Federer narrowly missed out on the title. During what was a marathon final showdown with Djokovic he failed to convert two match points before losing. He has already won the grass-court major eight times which is more than any other male player in history.
Despite his prominence in the sport for more than a decade, even Federer can’t escape father time with him being the oldest player in the top 100. The older you get, it will undoubtedly have an impact on the length of time to recover from matches, as well as other factors. Although Federer is happy to prove that age is nothing but a number to him.
“I know it’s on the rare side for a 40-year-old to come back after a year out,” he admits.
“The important thing is I’m pain free and injury free.”
Schedule-wise nothing has been set in stone over the coming weeks with an appearance at the Dubai Tennis Championships later this month yet to be decided. After that Federer’s focus will switch to the European clay in what will be a stern test of his knee.
“It’s still building up to being fitter, better, faster,” he commented on his plans.
“I’ll see about Dubai… then we’ll see about the clay court season.”
Granted a bye in the first round of Doha, he will play his first match against either Jeremy Chardy or Dan Evans. Two players he has defeated multiple times on the Tour with four wins over Chardy and three over Evans.
“I might surprise myself. I actually already have done in practice the past three weeks. I was surprised with how well it actually did go. But we know matches are a different animal, so right now I just take it day by day. I am happy I am back on the Tour again.” Federer concluded.
