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Fans are eager to see Roger Federer in action. The former world number 1 hasn't played for almost a year, more precisely since Wimbledon 2021, when he surrendered to Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals. The Swiss phenomenon was forced to have surgery on his right knee for the third time, prompting many experts to give him up for retirement.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion underwent a long rehabilitation process, never abandoning the desire to treat himself to one last ride on the tour. His return will take place at the Laver Cup, scheduled at the O2 Arena in London at the end of September.
The 40-year-old Swiss will also play the ATP in Basel in the autumn, and then refine his preparation in view of 2023. In these two years, the King has had to overtake Rafael Nadal in the all-time ranking of the Majors, while Novak Djokovic broke the record of weeks at the top of the ATP rankings.
During a long interview with 'Clay Tenis', Ion Tiriac expressed some thoughts on the return of the Master.
Ion Tiriac slams Roger Federer
"If you like tennis, fine, but being competitive at 40... oh, no. There are people like Alcatraz (Alcaraz).
Or like (Holger) Rune, who may be a player, but has a bit of trouble, the mother, this and the other, but the ball hits very well. The new generation is coming, for sure. You can play tennis for fun. That would be a great thing.
Although, be careful: it would be a pity if Roger Federer made a fool of himself," Tiriac said. Tiriac believes that such a lengthy spell of absence from the tour will pose problems for the 20-time Grand Slam champion. "I see it as danger, because so long without playing...
And he also makes mistakes. Coming to Roland Garros last year and leaving saying no, he wants to prepare Wimbledon... How can he afford to tell a Grand Slam like Roland Garros, that he is going to abandon it for Wimbledon? Go to Wimbledon directly, and that's it," Tiriac concluded.
The Swiss Maestro has been one of the greatest players in Wimbledon’s history. His first Grand Slam title came at this very tournament in 2003. He defeated Mark Philippoussis in the summit clash of that tournament to clinch his maiden Grand Slam title.
Since then, he has added seven more Wimbledon titles to take his tally to eight. “I have a lot of respect for him. 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”.
