Roger Federer: 'You do look back and you do appreciate the fight and...'

Roger Federer's 2020 was really unprofitable. The 39-year-old Swiss champion underwent two operations on his right knee and remained stationary for the entire year. The only official tournament in which he participated is the Australian Open in January, when he stopped in the semifinals in the presence of Novak Djokovic, while the last time he was seen on the field dates back to the performance in Cape Town against Rafa Nadal on February 7th. The years on the circuit begin to be many, and after yesterday evening the specter of his retirement from professional tennis begins to take shape. During last night's Swiss Sports Awards ceremony in Zurich, Federer was awarded as the best sportsman of the last 70 years of Swiss history together with skier Vreni Schneider; the winner of 20 Grand Slam tournaments spoke to the public about his sporting future and how he is not yet sure of being able to take the field at the next Australian Open. Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer spoke to the ATP this week about their “thrilling” long-standing rivalry, after half a century of matches on the tour.

Federer on Novak Djokovic

“I’ve played so many thrilling matches with Roger Federer over the years,” Novak Djokovic said. “Every time I step on court against him it’s thrilling, it’s very exciting because it kind of exceeds that match. It goes beyond the sport. Novak, obviously he can play on all the surfaces extremely well,” Federer said. “He always brings a certain level of play, which is extremely high, so to beat him you have to be at your best. He’s a great mover, and I have great coordination, so we match up well against each other.” Referring to their epic 2019 Wimbledon final, which the Serb won 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-6(4), 4-6, 13-12(3), Djokovic said, “It would probably be [in the] top two, top three matches I’ve ever played, this final against Roger. Probably the best, most exciting, and most demanding – both physically and mentally and in every aspect – matches that I ever played.” With Djokovic leading the rivalry 27-23, and with both players still ranked inside the world’s top five players, 2021 promises to feature more exciting matches between the legendary pair. “I think actually rivalries are super important in sports, I think it also makes the game more popular,” Federer said. “I think you always need somebody who you can have a good rivalry with. With me… and with Djokovic, thank god I had them… I think we get the best out of one another.” Despite losing the 2019 Wimbledon final, Federer acknowledged, “You do look back and you do appreciate the fight and the battle and the type of match.”

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/38bXvUB