Roger Federer has been with doubts installed in his day-to-day life for some time; with the idea of prolonging his career and continuing in the fight or, on the contrary, setting an expiration date for one of the brightest and most respected tours in sports history. An emotional swing that gains strength this August 8, when the Swiss already reaches quarantine.
The Swiss man from Basel, who not long ago hoarded records, milestones, successes and records on the track, does not want to focus his merits on issues related to his age. A month ago, for example, Federer became the oldest player to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals. He beat Australian Ken Rosewall. The Swiss was among the top eight of the All England Club with 39 years and ten months. The oceanic did it in 1974 with two months less.
He did not get the title, he fell in the penultimate stage against the Polish Hubert Hurkacz, he left the center court cheered, with the London public on their feet. But more for what he was, for the brilliance he displayed long ago on the grass than for his game, for his level or for his success. He is loved for what he left behind, for the memory. And always will be.
This is not what Federer wants, even in the present, in the bitter race to be the best ever, in full bid with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic to dominate the legend. Roger Federer still clings in the fight against time, in leaving the future in the hands of his incalculable talent. The 'Big Three', the dominating trio. The Swiss is one of them although the calendar is against him with respect to the Spanish and, especially, in relation to the Serbian, with more future ahead to raise the number of Grand Slams among his merits.
The first to the top
No one ever got higher. The Swiss reached his twenties first. An unprecedented figure that became accessible to the Balearic then and recently also for the Balkan, the one that now contemplates the most projection.
“I didn't think my goal would be to play until 39 or 40 or more. I was more like 35. Borg retired early, Agassi played a little more, also Edberg. I feel that I still like it a lot, that I enjoy tennis and I am going to see the results, “Federer had pointed out, who does not make long-term plans.
He plans with his team but especially with his wife Mirka Vavrinec and their children Myla Rose and Charlene Riva, twelve years old, and Leo and Lenny, seven years old. a future that in the short term seems to go through the United States Open, the last Grand Slam of each year (it will not be in the 1,000 Masters in Canada and Cincinnati).
As the calendar pages decline, the Swiss aspires to continue in the fight for the best in history, which unquestionably was for a time. When it was intractable and unrivaled. When he accumulated one trophy after another and his days as number one in the world crowded together.
Seated at the top of the professional circuit for 310 weeks, with the record of 237 in a row, he takes on the challenge of achieving successes at his age that were inaccessible to the rest. Between eyebrows Federer contemplates the possibility of making another Grand Slam his own. Nobody made it that 'old'. The Swiss won Wimbledon four seasons ago. With 35 years and eleven months. Only Rosewall got a 'major' with more. In 1974 he triumphed with 37 and two months. Also at the All England Club where he was about to win again, three courses later, when he reached the final at the edge of his quarantine. American Jimmy Connors stood in a semifinal of the United States Open with 39. It was 1991. References to consider. Nothing is impossible.
(embed) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8voIyM81zY (/ embed)
Knee injury
The meniscus injury in the right knee is what leads the Basel tennis player to abuse in recent times. With hardly any ailments throughout his career, except for those caused by his back in 2013, in full swing, weighed down ailments in his leg in recent months. In fact, Federer acknowledged that the evolution of the knee had stalled and that he would not go to the Tokyo Olympics that are about to end. And that the Olympic gold is the only thing that Roger has not won, who was champion in doubles in Beijing 2008 and individual silver in London 2012.
That final at the All England Club on July 14, 2019 that he lost to Djokovic was probably, the last great performance of the Swiss tennis player. Two years have passed since the longest Grand Slam final in history, with almost five hours of play. Federer, aged 37 at the time, twice came within one point of winning his ninth Wimbledon and his 21st major. He was never so close after.
“I will try to forget this final even though it was a great match”, assumed the Swiss who then had two great advantages over Nadal and four over the Serbian. Two seasons later, the balance is maximum.
It was his last great moment. Then it stalled. He burst into 2020 full of expectations, with the semifinals at the Australian Open and then his ordeal began. His last official match before facing the reality of his knee. He underwent surgery in February and shortly thereafter in June.
The news cornered the Swiss. The circuit got used to traveling without the Swiss presence until not long ago the great claim of the competition, the great incentive of each tournament.
Federer, exalted for his endless talent, admired for an unrivaled class and an incomparable presence on the pitch, always questioned the need to resort to push, to vigor. It seemed there was no need for Roger to pull his strength, his energy. His tennis went further. His presence gave off a touch of distinction in each game. Every hit. The right, the backhand, the serve. Finesse, elegance, presence, style.
SAEED KHAN GLYN KIRK GREG WOOD ADRIAN DENNIS BERTRAND GUAY TIMOTHY A. CLARY JOE KLAMAR WILLIAM WEST CLIVE BRUNSKILL ODD ANDERSEN THOMAS COEX (AFP)
Return to circulation
The Basel player returned more than four hundred days later. It took him a year and a half to hit the track after the last time. He returned to Doha in 2021 but lost against Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili and returned later in the Geneva tournament, which he faced as a test before Roland Garros.
In Paris he stood out and dropped out. He resigned to continue in the second week, in the round of 16, knowing that his journey over the Parisian land lacked a certain sense. He looked further to Wimbledon, where he is doing better, his performance is improving and the wear is less. He came to Halle as a grass staging but lost to Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime.
Came to Wimbledon and progressed. He signed great moments of yesteryear that alternated with other worse ones, closer to decline than splendor. And he fell badly in the quarters, his top, with the Pole Hubert Hurkacz. He left hurt by the way, battered, loaded with doubts.
Then he announced that he should reflect on the future with his entire team, although later he clarified that he had already begun the rehabilitation of his knee to return to play after the summer. Tennis awaits you.
Federer looks back now that he is forty, over twenty-three as a professional. The swiss who long ago set the course for the circuit, which established an era in sports, resists a goodbye precipitated by injury, a silent farewell and through the back door.
The Swiss aspires to an end point worthy of his history. Worthy and comparable to at least an unbeatable service record, with six Australian Opens, one Roland Garros, eight Wimbledon and five United States Opens. Twenty Grand Slam trophies that stand out from a track record with 103 other individual titles, six of them from the Masters Cups, a Davis Cup with Switzerlandâ
Admired for its elegance, for its distinction, it begins to assume its last stretch. With forty behind him, he assumes the countdown on the track. The final stretch that he himself will choose to reveal when tennis turns its back on him.