'You're used to Roger Federer's miracles but...', says top journalist

A shiver down my spine. But also a sense of disorientation. Millions of tennis fans have warned him who combine the face and the "geometric flair" of Roger Federer with the "devil's sport". Never was an oxymoron more apt than this to describe the Swiss artist, skilled both with the sword and with the foil, but probably also with a simple fountain pen without ink. A thrill, because for the first time since RF paints tennis on any surface that can handle the bounce of a ball, his year-end considerations sound sinister. Definitive? Maybe not, but the word "retirement" begins to make its way slowly, in the midst of the classic pre-season good intentions, pronounced during the ceremony - yet another of a career full of awards, cups and medals - that has celebrated as the best Swiss sportsman of the last 70 years. Simon Graf, who wrote Roger Federer's biography, recently aired a word of caution about the Swiss' 2021 comeback. Federer is expected to return to the game in Melbourne next year, after missing tennis action for almost a year.

Graf on Roger Federer

"This is Roger Federer's most difficult mission," Simon Graf was reported as saying. "You're used to Roger Federer's miracles and fondly remember 2017. But this time, getting back to work will be far more complicated." Roger Federer has returned to training under his coach Severin Luthi. But there has been no account of Federer's progress on social media, and it remains to be seen whether the Swiss Maestro is at the right physical level to play competitive tennis when he returns to the court. "Federer recently increased the intensity - now he's testing his body more," Graf reportedly added. "But until the form that would allow him to be competitive in Grand Slam tournaments, even to play for the title, there is still a lot to be done." Though the Australian Open, the year’s first Grand Slam, is likely to be pushed back to February 8 from its usual start date of January 19, the 39-year-old Federer said that it might still leave him with a ‘tight’ race to fitness. Filling his fans with a depressing sense of inevitability, the 20-time Grand Slam winner hinted that he may even have played his last match. Federer also said that it would help if the Australian Open was delayed further, adding, however, that an extra three weeks to the start of the year’s first Major, as is likely, would be a boost to his comeback bid. “It will be complicated for the Australian Open. I don’t want to take the next step until I’m ready. These three weeks could help me a bit. I’m curious to see whether it will start on February 8. Of course, it would help if I had a bit more time,” Federer said.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/34g6zXg