[ad_1]
ZURICH: Roger Federer said his injury return was not yet in sight, but insisted he was above the worst as the 40-year-old great tennis player aims for a return to the courts.
Federer was out for more than a year with two surgeries on his right knee before returning to tour this year.
But he only played 13 matches, and underwent a third operation after his quarter-final loss at Wimbledon in July.
“I am doing very well, the rehabilitation is progressing step by step,” said the Swiss star at an event in Zurich with sponsors Mercedes-Benz.
“The worst is behind me. I look forward to whatever happens to me to come.
“When you come back from an injury, every day is a better day. So it’s an exciting time.”
He said that given everything he had gone through with his awkward knee, dealing with the situation was “not a mental problem at all.”
The 20-time Grand Slam champion, now ranked ninth in the world, has said he sees the return to the pro tour as a “challenge”.
Federer added that he hoped to resume physical training and hitting balls on the tennis court as soon as possible, but accepted that “it still takes a little patience.”
He withdrew from this year’s French Open after reaching the fourth round and lost at Wimbledon with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 6-0 loss to the Pole Hubert Hurkacz.
Federer was the main instigator of the Laver Cup, an annual team tournament between six top players from Europe and six from the rest of the world, now in its fourth edition.
The 2021 event runs Friday through Sunday in Boston, but without Federer, who will be monitoring remotely.
“It hurts a lot,” he said.
“I knew that at some point I wouldn’t be able to be there, but I didn’t think it would be this year.”
Federer said he is already looking forward to 2022, when the tournament will take place in the British capital.
“One of my goals is to really get back to it and hopefully play in places like the O2 Arena in London,” he said.
Team Europe won the Prague 2017, Chicago 2018 and Geneva 2019 editions of the Laver Cup, while last year’s tournament fell victim to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Federer was out for more than a year with two surgeries on his right knee before returning to tour this year.
But he only played 13 matches, and underwent a third operation after his quarter-final loss at Wimbledon in July.
“I am doing very well, the rehabilitation is progressing step by step,” said the Swiss star at an event in Zurich with sponsors Mercedes-Benz.
“The worst is behind me. I look forward to whatever happens to me to come.
“When you come back from an injury, every day is a better day. So it’s an exciting time.”
He said that given everything he had gone through with his awkward knee, dealing with the situation was “not a mental problem at all.”
The 20-time Grand Slam champion, now ranked ninth in the world, has said he sees the return to the pro tour as a “challenge”.
Federer added that he hoped to resume physical training and hitting balls on the tennis court as soon as possible, but accepted that “it still takes a little patience.”
He withdrew from this year’s French Open after reaching the fourth round and lost at Wimbledon with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 6-0 loss to the Pole Hubert Hurkacz.
Federer was the main instigator of the Laver Cup, an annual team tournament between six top players from Europe and six from the rest of the world, now in its fourth edition.
The 2021 event runs Friday through Sunday in Boston, but without Federer, who will be monitoring remotely.
“It hurts a lot,” he said.
“I knew that at some point I wouldn’t be able to be there, but I didn’t think it would be this year.”
Federer said he is already looking forward to 2022, when the tournament will take place in the British capital.
“One of my goals is to really get back to it and hopefully play in places like the O2 Arena in London,” he said.
Team Europe won the Prague 2017, Chicago 2018 and Geneva 2019 editions of the Laver Cup, while last year’s tournament fell victim to the Covid-19 pandemic.
[ad_2]
Source link
