Roger Federer: 'I just hope that everything will go...'

Twenty years of successes and not hearing them, or almost. In the days when Roger Federer announced his return to competition after a year off, the anniversary of his first success on the ATP circuit is celebrated. It was February 4, 2001 when the Basel, not yet twenty years old, won the Milan tournament, beating the French Joulien Boutter 6-4 6-7 (7/9) 6-4, a tennis player who will remain in tennis history for that final lost than for other personal results. But that this success would not have been the only one for the Rossoneri, in addition to the great talent he already showed off, the two opponents he had to overcome to reach the final act in the Lombard capital were there to testify. In fact, in the quarterfinals he defeated with a double 6-4 that Goran Ivanisevic who years later would become mentor of Novak Djokovic, and who in 2001 won at Wimbledon - where Federer himself overtook, in the only comparison between the two, Pete Sampras, of which he became heir to the Championships - his first (and still only) title in a Grand Slam. In the semifinal he won 6-2 6-7 (4/7) 6-3 over Yevgeny Kafelnikov, another protagonist of tennis between the second and third millennium. After that February 4 twenty years ago Federer had to wait for the start of the following season to hit his second success in Sydney, but the points collected thanks to the quarterfinals reached at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, the second round at the US Open and all he final act at the Swiss Indoors in Basel allowed him to close 2001 already in 13th position in the standings. That was the beginning of a continuous rise, of a dazzling career that continues to exalt tennis fans, even today that, on the way to sporting sunset after 103 ATP titles won, is preparing for a new return to try to put showcase that gold with five circles in singular that is still missing.

Roger Federer on his future plans

"My biggest wish is to finish my career on my terms," Roger Federer told SRF. "As I’ve said before, it doesn’t have to be a fairy-tale ending, it doesn’t have to be a Wimbledon victory, and then I’ll walk away. The most important thing for me is to be completely healthy again. And of course, that the fans can return to the stadiums. I followed tennis the last few months with melancholy. I haven’t set a specific date for the end of my career. We will now give it a go. For now, the goal is to play for the whole season. Then we’ll see how my body has reacted and how the results were. I just hope that everything will go well with the knee. I still have many wishes. I will just give it my all. I hope I can give the fans beautiful victories again and some beautiful emotions." Speaking about skipping the first Grand Slam of the season in Melbourne, Federer added: "I've been thinking for a long time about when and where to come back. "Australia was a touch too early because of my knee. That hurts. It's one of the places where I love to play the most. I wanted to make my comeback at a smaller tournament so that I wasn't fully in focus and where the stress is also a little less."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2N04Yz8