Roger Federer: 'I was scared and uncertain when I underwent knee surgery'
In a recent interview, Roger Federer recalled when he underwent surgery in February 2016 following a fall when preparing a bath for his daughters Myla and Charlene. In the same year, the Swiss player took a six-month break in order to really get fit. "I had the respect of the situation, it was my first surgery I ever had to do in my life, so of course there is the unknown fact of when you wake up after surgery and your knee is not mobile, you do not know how it's going to be like", said Federer. "Of course there was uncertainty, maybe even scare in some instances when you start to walk again, when you realize you can't walk without crutches, then you start only lightly. It's a long process until you can actually run again and then do that for five hours in a row, then rest and then do it for five hours in a row again.
That's what the body has to be ready to do. It was a tough process but when I kind of enjoyed that as well because it was something totally different than anything I have ever done before, and it was important to be mentally strong, positive. I think my body was ready to have a break. It was a sign that you need to rest, I think the surgery was the first sign and then after the knee never really got 100% better, I needed more rest, more strengthening of the knee, the muscles around it so that I would be stronger, and it was worth it. My mind also needed some rest and rejuvenated coming back to the Tour. Because I have been on the Tour ever since '98, I have been playing a full schedule, so almost 18 years in a row and at some point I think I deserved six months. In a year, six months are a lot but in a 20-year career it's not so much."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2JveXZe
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