Roger Federer’s Return Predicted By Tennis Legend

Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer is ready to return to the tennis courts. The 20-time Grand Slam champion retired from professional tennis in 2022 at the Laver Cup but has not been a ghost since he left the ATP tour. Federer has appeared multiple times across different tennis events since his retirement.

When he retired at the 2022 Laver Cup, Federer promised to continue supporting Team Europe across all future editions. The former World No.1 has supported the team from the stands in 2023 and 2024, respectively. However, he has developed into a golf player since then, as per his reels on Instagram. However, Federer has now said that he wants to return to the tennis courts in some capacity.

The Knee Condition Of Roger Federer

Andy Roddick claims that few people understand the situation around Federer’s knee when he retired. Federer hurt his knee during the 2021 grass-court season. Although he played in the Wimbledon 2021 quarterfinals, he lost agonizingly in straight sets against Hubert Hurkacz. That was the final singles match he played in his career.

“I don’t think people really understand how bad his knee was and how many times his surgery didn’t go to plan. Not even just to play tennis, but even when he played doubles to finish Laver Cup, that was really dicey. When I saw him in Laver Cup in 2021, people were like ‘oh he’s gonna comeback,‘ and he was on crutches and was hiding them during photoshoots. His knee was really bad,” Roddick said on his Served Podcast.

After Wimbledon 2021, Federer decided to skip the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which would have been the fifth Olympic event of his career. Moreover, he skipped the 2021 US Open and all the ATP events at the start of 2022. Although he announced his decision to play in the Laver Cup and Basel initially, he couldn’t play more than one doubles match with Rafael Nadal at the Laver Cup.

“I know he always wanted to do a bigger goodbye and it sounds like maybe the knee now is healthy enough where he could probably entertain it. I think people want to be able to say goodbye to him. I know the shots that he hit when the chips were down. Imagine there is an open canvas and a partnership with no consequences, it will be amazing to watch,” Roddick added.

Possible Exhibition Match With Rafael Nadal

Federer’s last match at the 2022 Laver Cup was emotional, highlighted by his crying next to his great rival Rafael Nadal. However, things have developed a great deal since then. The Spaniard has also stepped away from professional tennis. Roddick believes that the Swiss Maestro could be in contact with his great rival to set up an exhibition event somewhere with high markets.

“He would want to hit different markets. Hence, I guess he wants to see South America. He is obviously going to be in Basel. There’s going to be somewhere in London or those places where he created the most memories. I’m sure, Madison Square Garden. I’m sure he’s going to hit all these massive arenas and then can you convince Rafa to come where you sell at a 100,000 people somewhere where you say goodbye to both of them simultaneously,” Roddick said.

Final Thoughts

Nadal retired from professional tennis last year after Spain’s Davis Cup. Spain, a team with Carlos Alcaraz, lost to the Netherlands to mark the end of their Davis Cup journey and send their beloved king of tennis into retirement. A small tribute ceremony was organized to celebrate Nadal’s career, which was heavily criticized for its poor organization.

Roddick has played in many exhibitions with Federer throughout his career. One was at Madison Square Garden in 2012, where he beat the Swiss man in straight sets. Shortly after, he beat Federer just for the third time in 24 meetings in Miami. That was the last match they played against each other. Roddick retired at the end of that year’s US Open.