'I don’t think Roger Federer knows himself', says top journalist

Roger Federer will not participate in the Australian Open; but the news is not this, in fact, already on December 28th it was made official that Federer would have skipped the tournament for the first time. But the reason is not linked to his physical condition but rather a precise choice of the tennis player not to stray from his family. To reveal it is Andre Sa, a former tennis player who today deals with public relations between the management of the Australian Open and players. Sa tells of the chat with Roger Federer about a month ago: "Roger had two alternatives: to come to Australia with the whole family and spend the 14-day quarantine period, or to come alone. In the first case, however, Mirka and children would not have been able to leave the room, unlike him, who could have trained as per protocol. In the second case, however, he would have had to spend over a month away from the family. 'Dude, I'm 39 years old, four kids and 20 titles of the Grand Slam. I am no longer in that period where I can leave my family for five weeks, 'Roger explained to me, thus making it clear that the priority at this moment for him is that of love." Speaking on a podcast, Simon Graf said that even if the Swiss champion stays involved with the game after calling time on his professional career, it won’t be easy for tennis fans to come to terms with his retirement, as and when that happens.

Graf on Roger Federer's retirement

“I mean, we don’t know. I don’t think Roger Federer knows himself. I mean, I know he’s far from where he would love to be right now. In terms of form, tennis-wise, he alone (knows), the grip, go-back, get-back to the court, when he really feels he can play at a certain level,” Simon Graf said. Graf added that for Federer, it’s not important where he decides to take his last bow. “I don’t think it’s important where (at which event) he steps away from the game. I did an interview with him after he won the Australian Open (in) 2017. I met him up in the mountains in Lenzerheide, where he has his second home. And he said, ‘my career has been so corny, like, everything has been so amazing. I don’t need a corny finish or like, it doesn’t matter how it will happen,” Graf said. However, Graf did concede that Federer isn’t too far away from retirement. “It will happen sometime… Maybe he will announce (that) he will step away from the game in Basel, maybe. I don’t think it’s important for him where he steps away,” the veteran sports journalist added.

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