Google News 'Roger Federer's pulled off the improbable before but...', says legend
by SIMONE BRUGNOLI | VIEW 4386
Roger Federer's appearances on the pitch have been very few in the last two years. The Swiss star played just 13 official matches in 2021, collecting nine wins and four losses. His run at Wimbledon ended in the quarterfinals at the hands of Hubert Hurkacz, who even handed him a bagel on Center Court.
A few weeks later, the former world number 1 announced that he had to operate on his right knee for the third time in 18 months. The hope of the fans is that the King can treat himself to one last round of the carousel before hanging up his racket.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion has recently resumed training in the gym, but is still unable to run. The 40-year-old from Basel hopes to be able to return to the circuit this summer, even if his participation in the Championships is quite unlikely.
As if that weren't enough, Federer was overtaken by Rafael Nadal in the all-time Majors rankings. At Eurosport, John McEnroe analyzed Roger's prospects in detail.
McEnroe praises Roger Federer
"It goes without saying that anytime we are at an event where Roger Federer is not playing we miss him," McEnroe said.
"He is the classiest player and the most beautiful player I have seen on a court. As a fan I would love to see Roger around. As far as the future, he's 40 years old," McEnroe said. "He’s had numerous surgeries on his knee, there’s a lot of wear and tear, it would be unbelievable if he could come back and get close to the level that he was at.
I thought the same thing five years ago when I was coaching [Milos] Raonic and Roger walked off after the Wimbledon semi-finals [in 2016] and was limping and didn’t play for six months. Then he won the Australian Open." McEnroe further claimed that Federer winning another Wimbledon would be "the most amazing of all".
But he also cautioned that if the Swiss is unable to play at 100%, he might struggle the same way that Andy Murray currently is. "He's pulled off the improbable before but this would be the most amazing of all if he was to win another Wimbledon," McEnroe said.
"Whatever makes him happy is what he deserves. If he wants to play we will be happy he is playing, but I don’t want to see Roger at 80 per cent. We have seen that with [Andy] Murray and it’s not easy. You want to see the top guys play at their best."
