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After two incredible seasons in 2004 and 2005 that had placed him above all other Tour players, Roger Federer raised his bar even further in 2006 to score 92 wins in 97 games and lift 12 titles. Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray were the only players to beat Roger that year, but that all may have changed on October 6 when the Swiss faced No.
1078, Takao Suzuki, in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Open. The 30-year-old Japanese had not played since the Seoul Challenger in October last year, making the best possible comeback in front of home fans and defeating Simon Greul and Paradorn Srichapan to reach the first ATP quarter-finals since Tokyo 2001.
Takao successfully delivered his best tennis at home and pushed no. 3, Lleyton Hewitt, on the edge in 2004. Two years later, he fought even harder against Roger, suffering a 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 loss in two hours and four minutes after a very close encounter.
Federer claimed 13 more points than the opponent, although that wasn't enough to push him to the top earlier, with a break for every player in the first two sets before that thrilling decider that went all the way.
Uncle Toni reflects on Roger Federer
In a recent podcast, Toni gave his take on Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s comeback to the tour in 2022.
According to him, it’ll be more challenging for Federer to continue playing for more years. On the other hand, he believes Rafael Nadal still has 2-3 decent years left in his career. Toni Nadal discussed Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s future on 3Iguales podcast.
Uncle Toni first talked about Federer’s circumstances. He said,” I think it’s more difficult for [Roger] Federer [to continue playing at the top level] because he’s 40 years old and is coming off the back of several operations, which I don’t know if they went well”.
On his nephew, Toni Nadal said, “In the case of Rafael, I am confident that he has two or three good years left. I hope that he will be able to win one more Grand Slam. The reality is that every year it’s more difficult and every year the youngsters are getting closer [to the top]”.
He once again said, “We have learned to live with his [injury] problems and I think he will get over it again. He is excited to start 2022 at the top of his game. I’m confident that 2022 will be a good year for him”.