Fans are eager to see Roger Federer on the tennis court again. The former world number 1 has experienced a real ordeal over the past two seasons, having had to deal with a serious right knee injury. The Basel veteran was unable to play as and as much as he would have liked, but he never considered retiring.
The King played just 13 official matches last year, racking up nine wins and four losses. After reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon 2021, the 40-year-old Swiss gave up the Tokyo Olympics to undergo a new knee operation.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion is still recovering from that surgery and is expected to return to the Laver Cup next month. The Maestro will close his very short season at the ATP in Basel, back on the calendar after the last two editions had been canceled due to the pandemic.
Everyone's hope is that Federer will be able to retire on his terms. In a recent conversation on the Tennis Channel, Andy Roddick took a closer look at Roger's prospects.
"Roger Federer's aware of what he was coming back from after these previous knee surgeries," Roddick said.
"He wasn't moving that well, he was a shadow of what we know as Roger. To add another knee surgery to that and to have him come back with that losy time, obviously, he knows it is going to be an uphill battle," he added.
Roddick further expressed how "horrible" it was to watch one of the sport's best players struggle physically. "We need patience," Roddick said. "It's horrible to see the icons of the game to go out because their bodies give out.
I personally hope that he can come back and leave on his own terms. I don't care if he's as good as he once was, that's unimportant to me at this point," the American added. "What's important is that he gets the goodbye that he wants."
The Swiss maestro is one of the greatest players to have played in the tournament. Further, he has won an astonishing eight Wimbledon titles. Meanwhile, Wimbledon was the last tournament where Federer played. He suffered a knee injury after his quarterfinal defeat against Hubert Hurkacz during last year’s Wimbledon.
Which has kept him away from tennis for over a year now. Moreover, he has lost all his ranking points and has moved out of the ATP rankings chart.
