Swiss maestro, 39, withdrew from the rest of the tennis season earlier this year after a second surgery on his right knee. Millions of fans are in despair because of this news as they fear that this would be the end of an era.
Fans and media have been speculating that Federer might retire this year, In an interview with sports Panorama, the Swiss master said that “Rumors around him retiring have been there since 2009 in the media.”
Federer has 20 Grand Slam wins, which is the most by any player in the history of tennis. His all-time rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic now have a chance to overcome Federer’s record. Both of them have 19, 17 Grand Slams to their names respectively.
In June 2020, Federer announced on his social media platforms that “A few weeks ago, having experienced a setback during my initial rehabilitation, I had to have an additional quick arthroscopic procedure on my right knee. I plan to take the necessary time to be 100% ready to play at my highest level.”
Three years ago he had surgery in his left knee but to everyone’s surprise, he came back after five months and beat Rafael Nadal in the final of the Australian Open 2017.
Roger Federer has been a treat to watch over these years for generations with over a hundred title wins to his name. His backhand only which he has used to disrupt his opponent’s game will surely be remembered for a long time.
The final of Wimbledon 2009 versus Andy Roddick was the time Federer broke the record of Pete Sampras’ 14 Grand Slam titles.
The match lasted for 4 hours and 17 minutes with Roddick not letting it to be any easier for him, but the fans witnessed that even the destiny was on his side.
Now the fans fear that is there any other magic left in Federer or will his era end silently. Still, they wait for a miracle to happen, as in the past players have recovered after difficulties which threatened to finish their careers.
Djokovic in 2017, Kim Clijsters between 2009 and 2011, Monica Seles in the early 1990s faced more or less similar situations.
It is his luck that during Federer’s entire career he had to face some ‘phenome-NADAL’ tennis and Djokovic also is hungry to surpass his all-time Grand slams record but the Swiss great is one of its kind legacy of the sport.
Laureus World Sportsman Award is given to the players from each sport across the globe. Only the best of the best players get that award and guess what? Federer has 6 of them to his name which is the most by any player in any game.
One day probably Nadal, Djokovic, or some other player might achieve more wins than Basel’s ‘GOAT’ but no one will be able to beat the mastery that he has achieved so far, that is certain artistry about the game people have never seen before.
No one has dominated tennis as much as Roger Federer, fans are uncertain about his return and they do not want Federer to leave tennis quietly. Although he has assured his fans that he will be back to the courts with the start of the tennis season of 2021.
One can only hope and expect him to be fit again soon. People all around the world await him to be back to the courts but perhaps only Federer is able to definitely answer the hardest question of his fans who are worried about him. Let’s see if the world of tennis has more tennis left to be played by him or is this an end to the ‘Federer-tastic’ era…
