Roger Federer: 'I looked worriedly at the development of...'

• Tennis News
• Roger Federer

Roger Federer was absent for most of last season, thanks to a double operation on his right knee which he underwent to further extend his career. The Swiss phenomenon, which has remained close to the top of world tennis thanks to the new ranking system, returned to Doha a couple of weeks ago reaching the quarter-finals.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion wasted a match point against Nikoloz Basilashvili, but he also sent positive signals to his countless fans around the world. The former ATP number 1 confirmed his participation in the clay court season, although it is not yet clear which tournaments he will play in the next two months.

The 39-year-old from Basel's goal is to reach 100% for the summer, with Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics being his last efforts before retiring from tennis. Through his official social media accounts, the Swiss Maestro confided that he appreciated the time spent at home last year with his family.

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal played in the ‘Match for Africa’

“I enjoyed spending this intensive downtime with my family. But I looked worriedly at the development of the global infection numbers, missed the contact with my parents and friends, and observed with deep concern that people drifted into poverty or lost friends and family to the disease" - Roger Federer stated.

Roger Federer and his wife Mirka Federer first donated one million Swiss Francs to the families in Switzerland. Furthermore, Federer donated $1 million to feed families in Africa during the pandemic. In February 2020, before the coronavirus sent the world into lockdown, Roger Federer had also played a charity match alongside, Rafael Nadal, Bill Gates, and Trevor Noah.

That match set the record for the most attended tennis match in history. “2020 was most probably an extraordinary year for all of us, characterised by complex emotions and new experiences. In February, I was able to play the unforgettable Match in Africa 6 in Cape Town, South Africa, and celebrate an exhilarating tennis festival with a record-breaking 51,954 fans." Roger Federer’s surgeries came at the same time as the coronavirus pandemic.

The pandemic forced tennis to stop and ATP made some changes to the ranking system. ATP froze the ranking, thus no player lost points for no participation. So Federer never lost his 2019 points and thus kept his place in the top 10. If the rankings weren’t frozen, then Federer would have found himself in the fringes of the top 100.