Europe 1 with AFP 11:58 a.m., November 17, 2021, modified at 12:00 p.m., November 17, 2021
Roger Federer is aiming for a return to competition in "summer 2022", thus excluding participating in the Australian Open. In an interview with the Tribune de Genève and the daily 24 Heure, the player was very cautious about his ambitions: "I want to go and see one last time what I am capable of as a professional tennis player".
Launched in a delicate rehabilitation of his right knee, Roger Federer aims to return to competition in "the summer of 2022", thus excluding to participate in the Australian Open, in an interview Wednesday at the Tribune de Genève and daily 24 hours.
"The truth is, I would be incredibly surprised to play Wimbledon; in other words, Australia does not even come into play," said the Swiss tennis icon, who turned 40 in August. .
Roger Federer wants "to get back in shape for his life as a man"
Federer, who has only played 13 games this year after a year of hiatus linked to a double intervention to the right knee, "said (his) return to competition for the summer 2022 ", but" warns that the next four or five months are going to be decisive ". Caught up in pain during the grass season, he was eliminated in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and then forfeited the Tokyo Olympics, again undergoing two operations to "suture" his right internal meniscus then "to treat (his) cartilage ".
"This operation, I was going to have to do it anyway for my long-term well-being (...) to be able to ski with my children, to play soccer or tennis with my friends in the decades to come. My first motivation was to get back in shape for my life as a man, ”explained the native of Basel.
Federer wants to say goodbye to tennis "in his own way"
While Federer will only be able to "start running quietly" again in January, before starting in March-April "training that looks like tennis", he was very cautious about his ambitions: "I want to go and see one last time what I am capable of as a professional tennis player ".
"We would all like that I could say goodbye in my own way and on a tennis court (...) And if we push the reasoning, replaying in 2022 or 2023 no longer makes a big difference: 40 or 41 years old, that's is equal, ”estimates the winner of 20 Grand Slam tournaments.
"The question is rather: will I manage to hurt myself day after day? Today, my heart answers yes. So, I take things step by step (...) And even if I know very well that the end is near, I want to try to play some more big matches, "he added.