When your name is Roger Federer, you cannot retire on a defeat in three sets, including a 6-0 in the third, like the one conceded by the Swiss in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon 2021, against Hubert Hurkacz.
But when you approach the age of 41 (August 8) and you underwent a third right knee operation in the summer of 2021 in a year and a half, it is difficult to project yourself, even for a legend.
The man with 20 Grand Slam titles – like Novak Djokovic but now two lengths behind Rafael Nadal – still hopes to play on the ATP Tour in 2023. “How, when and for what, I don't know yet.
But that would be the idea,” Federer told the Swiss daily
Tagesanzeiger
on Sunday .
“I myself am curious to see what will follow.
But I have hope, I have already come a long way.
I'm not far.
The next three or four months will be eminently important, ”said the Basel.
Tennis still has to “wait a bit”
Interviewed on Saturday by the SRF channel, the Swiss icon explained that he was "currently emphasizing [his] physical condition", going to the gym "five to six times a week".
But tennis will still have to “wait a bit”, he admitted.
Federer nevertheless still aims to return to the courts during the Laver Cup in London (September 23 to 25) then in his hometown from October 24 to 30, as the organizers of the Basel tournament announced at the end of April.
The Swiss champion, winner of 103 trophies over his more than twenty-year career, has only played six games in 2020 and thirteen in 2021. He is currently ranked 50th in the world.
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