Roger Federer is targeting a return to the circuit in mid-2022, the Swiss star said Wednesday, hoping to play some big matches once again before bowing out in style.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion, who turned 40 in August, is working his way back from a persistent right knee injury that restricted him to just five tournaments this year.
Federer said the Australian Open in January was out of the question, while participation in the French Open in May and June and his favourite major, Wimbledon in June and July, was highly unlikely.
“The truth is I would be incredibly surprised to play Wimbledon, which is to say that Australia does not even come into play,” he said in an interview published in the Swiss newspapers 24 Heures and Tribune de Geneve.
After this year’s Wimbledon, Federer missed the Tokyo Olympics to undergo more surgery on his right meniscus, followed by a cartilage operation.
“This operation, I was going to have to do it anyway for my long-term well-being… to be able to ski with my children, to play football or tennis with my friends in the decades to come. My first motivation was to get back in shape for my life as a man,” he said.
Federer said he will start light running again in January and then only take up “training that looks like tennis” in March-April.—AFP
