Roger Federer has played very little in the past two years and his career is winding down. The Swiss phenomenon had to deal with a serious right knee injury, which significantly reduced his appearances on the pitch and prevented him from winning further trophies.
Suffice it to say that the former world number 1 played just 13 official matches in 2021, collecting nine wins and four losses. The 20-time Grand Slam champion reached the round of 16 at Roland Garros and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon as his best results of the season, far too meager tally for a legend of his caliber.
A few weeks after the Championships, the King highlighted the need for knee surgery for the third time in 18 months. According to the latest news, the 40-year-old from Basel will not return before the Laver Cup, scheduled at London’s O2 Arena at the end of September.
Roger will also play at the Basel ATP in the fall. On the eve of his debut on the grass in Halle, Stefanos Tsitsipas answered a few questions about Federer.
Tsitsipas praises King Roger
“I have a lot of respect for Roger Federer.
I enjoyed just watching him on TV. Probably hitting with him on a tennis court would have been a never-in-a-lifetime scenario. When I first faced him, I was about to serve and I was thinking, ‘Roger is on the other side of the net’
He is my childhood hero. This is beyond unimaginable. He is someone that is difficult to believe he’s real. It’s incredible what he has done with all his records and the game-style,” Tsitsipas said. Tsitsipas continued to praise Federer enthusiastically and stated that he missed the Swiss on the tour.
“Yeah, I quite miss him. He’s a very charming person. You know, everyone loves him,” said Tsitsipas. For the first time in 22 years, Federer dropped out of the top-50 of the ATP rankings. He is currently placed at the 68th position on the ATP rankings chart.
In the recently concluded French Open, Novak Djokovic failed to defend his title. The Serb went down against Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals of the tournament. As a result, he has slipped to the third position on the ATP rankings chart, making way for Daniil Medvedev to regain the Number 1 ranking.
Elsewhere, Alexander Zverev moved up a place to become the second-best player in the world in men’s singles. French Open 2022 champion, Rafael Nadal, occupies the fourth spot.