Roger Federer: 'It was disappointing not to face Rafa at Indian Wells'
Blessed with immense talent and body capable of enduring the efforts of modern tennis, Roger Federer has been one of the best players in the world at the age of 37, despite the fact he spent two decades on the Tour. Competing in almost 1500 ATP matches so far, Roger was never forced to retire during the match and gave only a few walkovers throughout the career, making a smart schedule year after year and playing at 100% every time he would step on the court. Back in 2000, the Swiss fought in more than 60 encounters on the Tour and had kept that pace until 2016 when a knee surgery prevented him from playing the entire schedule, entering only seven tournaments and skipping the second part of the year after Wimbledon.
As well all know, Roger returned even stronger in 2017, winning 12 ATP titles after an impressive comeback and lifting the 100th ATP trophy earlier this March in Dubai. Over the last couple of years, many players from the very top of the game were dealing with severe injuries that halted their progress and sidelined them from the court, in some cases for more than half a year. Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka, Juan Martin del Potro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and others have all struggled to compete injury-free in the last two seasons and keep the positions they had previously held for years, starting all over way after turning 30 to extend the career and give their best to regain the form and winning way.
Speaking about them after the semi-final win in Miami over Denis Shapovalov, Roger Federer expressed his thoughts about his old rivals who are still dealing with injuries, wishing all the best to Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro. Also, he mentioned the potential match against Nadal in the semi-final at Indian Wells that the Spaniard had to withdraw from due to a knee injury, hoping to meet them all at the ATP Finals in London in November.
"What I feel is that I wish them the best, but it's part of the game. You know, I can't play them all. If we are not feeling well, we can't play, having to wait it out. But the good thing about the ATP Tour is you can always come back, because the Tour goes from January to November, and you have 15-plus years on Tour. So, regardless of their injuries, you know, they will come back, and I hope once they do they will be very strong like the last few times. With Andy in particular now, with the uncertainty about his hip, I wish him nothing but the very best.
With Juan Martin, I think he will find a way back which I'm confident he will. And Rafa is already practicing on the clay. So that was just disappointing that the match didn't happen in Indian Wells, but, you know, it's a better Tour with them, but there is also exciting stories when they're not around, fortunately for the Tour and unfortunately for them. I still think they all will be back this year at some point, hopefully, and the year-end hopefully will be incredibly exciting."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2TKBfrq
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