“He will decide at the last minute whether to play or not,” Paganini said bluntly in dialogue with the Swiss newspaper “Blink”, opening a question about his participation and generating uncertainty among Federer’s followers and tennis lovers.
Without an official confirmation from the interested party himself, there are many who pray to see him play for the last time, while Paganini clarified that “his problem is not only in his knee”, alluding to the surgery he underwent last year in the joint of his right leg.
Crossroads
“Roger had been evaluating retiring since July, when he noticed that he was getting more and more tired when he increased the intensity of his training,” he explained, and his announcement seems to me to be a wise decision,” he added. “Roger played many games throughout his career and subjected his body to maximum efforts,” completed the physiotherapist of the arguably best tennis player in history.
At 41 years old, Federer is now facing the last crossroads of his prolific career and it will be he who determines if the public will be able to enjoy his last shots on the court before “hanging up the racket” definitively.
In a London that resumes its usual activities after the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, the focus today is on Federer’s decision ahead of the tournament that will host the O2 Arena from Friday to Sunday.
The last available tickets are sold at exorbitant prices that reach up to 50 thousand euros and those who paid that figure will surely want to see “King Roger” in action one last time.
In principle, Federer himself confirmed that he would play the tournament with the European team led by the Swedish Bjorn Borg and also made up of the Spanish Rafael Nadal and the Serbian Novak Djokovic, the other two members of the so-called “Big Three” that reigned in the circuit. in the last two decades.
Federer is already in London, where 14 months ago he took to the ring for the last time before his prolonged absence from the circuit due to the new operation on his right knee, this time with a defeat against the Pole Hubert Hurkacz in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, where in 2017 he won his eighth and last title and one of the 20 Grand Slam titles he added throughout his career.
No details
Federer let it be understood, without giving more details, that he will continue to be linked to the world of tennis after his retirement, upon his arrival in London.
“I don’t know exactly what my future will look like, but I don’t want to walk away completely from a sport that has given me everything,” the former world number one told Radio Television Switzerland (RTS).
The twenty-time Grand Slam winner later confided to RTS that he was “relieved” after announcing his retirement.
“My knee wouldn’t let go, it wasn’t progressing well enough, and then I had a not very satisfactory scan result, so I told myself this was over,” he explained.
The Helvetian later acknowledged to that media outlet that he had withheld “a tear or two”, but declared himself “happy to have taken the step”.
The tennis legend had announced his retirement after the Laver Cup in a statement on Thursday. The Swiss has not played in competition since his elimination in the Wimbledon quarterfinals in July 2021 due to his knee injury.
In this fifth edition of the Laver Cup, the European team arrives as a firm candidate to repeat the victory they achieved in the previous four, because in addition to Nadal, Djokovic and Federer, if the Swiss finally plays, they will have the Scotsman Andy Murray , the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas and the Norwegian Casper Ruud, brand new finalist of the US Open.
Murray is also praying to see Federer in action as this will be the first opportunity he will have to share a team with an opponent he has faced 25 times.
“I feel lucky to have faced him in grand finals and on those occasions I still didn’t understand the dimension of those moments,” explained the Scot, also a former world number one.
“I haven’t talked to him yet and I hope he can play and we can play together in the double, which would be really amazing,” added Murray, who has also suffered from injuries throughout his career, mostly to his hip, which sidelined him. for a long time in the circuit.
Source: Ambito
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