'Tokyo 2020 was gonna be towards the end of Roger Federer's career', says legend

All tennis fans, and not just his fans, have written in their personal letter to Santa Claus to see Roger Federer on the court soon. The Swiss champion, in fact, had "scared" the fans no later than two weeks ago by admitting that his physical condition, more precisely his knee, was not yet perfect. The scenario seemed inevitable, or rather "high risk" of having to miss the first Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open 2021. The Swiss knows well that there is no point in forcing the times and, therefore, the Oceanic Major may really not see the name of King Roger among the participants on the scoreboard. After all, his seasonal goals are basically two: Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics. Also for this reason putting the knee at risk again with a premature return could really be deleterious, especially for a tennis player who is about to 40 years. Federer has returned to speak in the last few hours via a video released by the ATP. "I hope you are all well after a very difficult year - the words reported by TennisWorldItalia.com - I wanted to thank all of you for giving me the award of favorite player by fans this year too. Thanks to the ATP, to all the tennis fans who voted for me and who want to see me on the court again. I am training hard to make it possible, I hope to be able to play in front of so many people soon. Merry Christmas and I hope the situation improves next year. I can't wait to see you all again very soon". The Swiss, therefore, does not give certain dates on his return and does not even dispel doubts about the Australian Open. The first Grand Slam tournament of the season will hardly see the Basel native at the starting line. The world of tennis and the fans are waiting. How long will King Roger be back? The important thing, of course, is that when he happens he will be in 100% condition. Former World number 1 Mats Wilander recently spoke about Roger Federer's future ambitions, and his likely tournament preferences. The Swede also believes Federer has a chance of winning the singles gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Wilander on Roger Federer's future

Mats Wilander believes the Tokyo Olympics isn’t far behind the Laver Cup in Roger Federer’s preference list, considering that the Swiss is yet to win a singles gold at the quadrennial event. "I think that with Roger Federer in a weird way I think it's Laver Cup and the Olympics," the Swede added. "Of course mustn’t forget the Olympics, he’s never won the gold medal in singles." Mats Wilander believes Federer still has the ability to defeat the top-ranked players in best-of-three-sets matches, which gives him a good chance of clinching the elusive gold in 2021. "I would always say that in the last 3 or 4 years that I think Tokyo 2020 was gonna be towards the end of his career," Wilander said. "Now, obviously Tokyo is hopefully next year, but I think he can still win that you know. He can still win a 2 out of 3 sets against the best of the world at the Olympics."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3rsyvRD