Roger Federer: 'I still have the semifinal against the Bryans in mind'

Turning 40 in a few days, Roger Federer is still in the top 10, mainly thanks to his 2019 results and two solid Major appearances in 2020 and 2021. The 20-time Major winner suffered a serious knee injury while Beginning of the previous season, he underwent two surgeries and was off the court for 13 months. Roger played just one tournament in 2020 and returned this March in Doha, shaping his form and targeting Wimbledon as his main target. Playing four events leading up to his 22nd Wimbledon, Federer scored five wins and did his best at the All England Club to become the oldest Wimbledon quarter-finalist in the Open Era. Roger beat Mannarino, Gasquet, Norrie and Sonego to book a spot in the last eight before suffering a major loss to Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets. Still feeling the pain in his knee, Roger took a couple of weeks off and will attempt to recover for the US Open, eager to extend his career for at least another season. Speaking about his longevity before Wimbledon, Federer recalled his conversation with Pete Sampras from ten years ago, when the American wondered when Roger would retire, even though he was 30 at the time. Not only did Roger not retire at 33 or 34, he extended his career after that nasty 2016 knee injury and became No. 1 in 2018 at 36. The Swiss had another memorable streak in 2019 before that knee injury from the start of the previous season that ruined his progress.

Federer deserves credit for dominating across multiple generations

It is true that Roger Federer is not at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, in fact, he was no longer at the Rio 2016 Olympics, but the Swiss has such a long career that he can find plenty of memories to occupy several pages. In an interview with the ITF before his resignation was made public, the Basel man dives into his memories to rescue his best Olympic memories, such as his gold in doubles with Stan Wawrinka, the sadness after losing the final in 2012 or the woman that she met in Sydney 2000 and that she would end up being the mother of her children. “We made that gesture after the semi-finals and also when we won the title. We just had to. It was like a scene where Stan was playing so well that I thought he was like fire, so I go up to him and pretend to warm up on fire. It was silly of us but it was a lot of fun, I think we were both happy to carry it out. I still have the semifinal against the Bryans in mind, they were number one, and we also knew that if we won we would already have silver or bronze assured. It is a pity that those defeated in the semifinals do not automatically obtain the bronze, I remember that in that way I lost a medal in the 2000 Olympic Games. I fell in the semifinals and then I also lost the match for the bronze medal, that was a great anguish at the moment."

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