Almost two months ago, in the middle of the Laver Cup, to see Roger Federer On crutches it worried many, since there were still people who thought that the Swiss would be able to arrive in time for the Australian Open, after a spring-summer where he did the second week at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. His knee continued to bother him, and so he decided to undergo surgery again to gain quality of life. Today, a few words from him to the Swiss press, has made us take our heads and is that his return, today, seems more than complicated for what it counts.
It is the first time Federer has spoken openly about his injury since undergoing surgery for the third time on this joint in less than two years. Never, until now, had we known from his own mouth what type of injury he had and how the operation had been. Roger had the medial meniscus in his right knee sewn and the cartilage was treated. Already on our YouTube channel, a few months ago, we offered information about what exactly the injury that the Swiss had was, explaining what was happening to him.
Roger Federer raises alarms about his return
It was known that his return to the competition was not going to be in the short term, but the dates that Roger begins to manage and that he reveals in the interview, makes us really realize the extent of the injury he has in that right knee. “I won’t be able to go running until January and I won’t be able to train on the track until March or April. I would be very surprised if he came to play at Wimbledon (2022)“, Reveals the Swiss, who does not lose hope of having one last dance and assures that he is putting all his” heart and soul “in this last attempt.
Federer is clear that he will return. You want to say goodbye on the track and not through a statement or press conference. “I don’t care if I return in 2022 or 2023, 40 or 41 years old. The question I ask myself is whether I will be able to torture myself every day for my return. Today my heart tells me yes. Although I know the end is near, I would like to try to play a couple more important games again.”Confesses Roger.
“I wanted to wait for the first big check-up before making these statements public. The check-up went well. It will be a long rehabilitation process and the situation is not the same as in 2016. I need to be patient, ”he continues. “The tests I had after Wimbledon determined that the inner meniscus of my knee was injured again. They had to sew it on me, which required a period of immobilization. There, the doctors also treated my cartilage ”.
The Basel genius knows that, at this point, fighting for the big titles will be very difficult because of the problems that his knee has, because of the type of injury and because of how the youngsters are squeezing, although he chooses to believe. “Nobody knows, not even the doctors themselves (if he will be able to fight for the Slams tomorrow). I, I still hope. My world will not collapse if that does not happen again, but my dream now is to be able to return. I believe in these kinds of miracles because I have already seen them. I would like to see again what I can achieve as a professional tennis player ”.
What Federer clings to is that, despite coming off more than a year on hiatus and with knee discomfort, he was able to do the second week in two Grand Slams and get among the top eight of the tournament at Wimbledon, although it is It is true that in the London tournament he left a worrying image in his last match against Hurkacz. “The easy thing for me would be to say: ‘Let’s stop’, but I deserve better than the image I left in the last game I played. This is my way of saying to the fans ‘Thank you’. They deserve a better image than the one they saw of me at Wimbledon, “he says.
With only 19 games played in two seasons, Roger Federer is not entirely hopeless. At least, he wants to go back to dressing short and feel once again that special feeling that comes when jumping on the track. His love of tennis makes him want to work very hard to give himself a dignified send-off. “I have a hard time making the decision (to retire). I wish I could be the one to decide the moment. That is something very personal, we all want me to be able to say goodbye in my own way on a tennis court ”, he says.
Therefore, rule out seeing Roger before the 2022 turf tour. We still have to wait to see how his knee responds once he starts running and doing track work, to see if the deadlines can be met and if he is in condition. to be able to compete without compromising your knee. Today, the greatest achievement will be to see him as a tennis player again and one can only speculate about where we could see him for the last time.
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