'Roger Federer pulled the rabbit out of his hat', says former player

Tennis fans will have to wait until 2021 to see Roger Federer, the player who has been the World number 1 for the longest time (310 weeks), 20 wins in the Grand Slam tournaments, 8 triumphs in Wimbledon and 6 Australian Open. King Roger has announced the stop for the next six months. He was operated again on the right knee he had undergone last February. In a long interview with Forbes, Patrick McEnroe believes Roger Federer has the ability to pick up trophies.

McEnroe: 'I’m not going to say he can’t'

“I think he can, I think he can,” said Patrick McEnroe. "We’ve been saying this for five, six years, it’s not going to get any easier. He pulled the rabbit out of his hat. Well, he did more than that the last time he came back [in 2017], winning at the Australian and then winning Wimbledon again. So 39, he’s had some time off, he came back refreshed last time, can he do it again? He’s Roger Federer, so I’m not going to say he can’t. I’m not going to guarantee he’ll win another one but i’m not going to say (the reverse either). We’ve already said before he’ll never win another one and then he won a couple more so let’s hope he can come back and go out with another year or so playing well and being able to be in the mix. That would be great to see,” added McEnroe. Federer helped to lead a revival in tennis known by many as the Golden Age. This led to increased interest in the sport, which in turn led to higher revenues for many venues across tennis. During this period rising revenues led to exploding prize money; when Federer first won the Australian Open in 2004 he earned $985,000, compared to when he won in 2018 and the prize had increased to AUD 4 million. Upon winning the 2009 French Open and completing the career Grand Slam, Federer became the first individual male tennis player to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated since Andre Agassi in 1999. He was also the first non-American player to appear on the cover of the magazine since Stefan Edberg in 1992. Federer again made the cover of Sports Illustrated following his record-breaking 8th Wimbledon title and second Grand Slam of 2017, becoming the first male tennis player to be featured on the cover since himself in 2009.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2ZvvbIv