“Welcome, teacher.” Roger Federer, the notable absence of Wimbledon 2022, visited the All England and generated a revolution

The current edition of Wimbledon, the most prestigious tennis event on the circuit, is different for several reasons. For example, without points for the ranking and without the presence of the Russian and Belarusian players due to the banning of All England as punishment for the warlike invasion of Ukraine, the major British has its peculiarities. Of course, this year also presented a notable absence: that of Roger Federer, his maximum champion (in eight opportunities). Nevertheless, the Swiss appeared this Sunday in the complex and his presence revolutionized to tennis fans.

Sin Middle Sunday, the traditional rest day on the first Sunday of the tournament that helped to refresh minds and bodies (in addition to the grass) and that had only been active for a handful of days in history when rain caused problems in the schedule, for today A ceremony for the centenary of the emblematic central court was scheduled and Federer is one of the invited stars. In the London morning the figure of the Helvetian generated a great uproar in the bowels of All England when he appeared walking there, escorted by security personnel and accompanied by his agent, Tony Godsick (husband of former tennis player Mary Joe Fernández) and his friend and coach, Severin Lüthi.

“Welcome back, @rogerfederer,” Wimbledon posted on his social networks, accompanied by photos of the former world number 1 walking through the All England, to the admiration of the fans. Twenty-time Grand Slam singles champion, the tennis player born in Basel 40 years ago looked impeccably dressed, in a jacket and tie, smiling and waving at every step.

For the first time since 1997 (since in 1998 he played and won the tournament in the junior category), the Swiss did not compete at Wimbledon. He is, as he himself communicated, in a positive stage of rehabilitation of his operated right knee and aspires to reappear on the courts in September, after the US Open. But this did not take away a nostalgic nuance from his absence on the surface (the grass) that he dominated like no one else.

Federer’s last match, precisely, was at Wimbledon, last year: he lost in the quarterfinals of the third major of the season against the Polish Hubert Hurkacz. Time will tell if there will be -at least- a last chapter between Roger (he will turn 41 in August) and Wimbledon, in 2023. For now, this Sunday the All England has already revolutionized with his visit.

In addition to Federer, other great Wimbledon champion legends participated in the ceremony for the hundred years of the Cathedral, such as Bjorn Borg, Stefan Edberg, Chris Evert, John McEnroe, Rod Laver, Billie Jean King, Martina Hingis, Goran Ivanisevic, Rafael Nadal , Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Lleyton Hewitt, Venus Williams, Conchita Martínez, Simona Halep and Margaret Court, among others.

The event had absences such as those of Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker (serving a sentence in prison), Serena Williams, Pete Sampras and the nine-time individual champion Martina Navratilova, who is in London but had to get off at the last minute because she was positive for Covid 19.

The exciting ovation to Federer: