During Sunday's centennial celebrations on the legendary Centre Court, Roger Federer voiced his wish to play one final match at Wimbledon.
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Several past Wimbledon champions, including Roger Federer, were invited to the All England Club on Sunday to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the legendary court. Some of the former champions who were invited to Centre Court to commemorate the historic day included Rod Laver, John McEnroe, Billie Jean King, Venus Williams, Pat Cash, Marion Bartoli, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Goran Ivanisevic, Chris Evert, Lleyton Hewitt, Petra Kvitova, Bjorn Borg, and Rafael Nadal were some of the former champions invited on Centre Court to mark the historic day.
As their names were called out, each past champion went onto the court one by one. Federer was the last champion to go out, as the champions were called out in ascending order of Wimbledon victories. The eight-time winner entered the arena to thunderous cheers and a standing ovation, looking dapper in his suit. As the Swiss arrived, Djokovic spoke briefly with him while he was standing next to him.
“This court has given me my biggest wins and my biggest losses. I hope I can come back one more time,” Federer informed the crowd while missing this year’s main draw for the first time since 1998 due to injury. “I’ve missed it here. I knew walking out here last year, it was going to be a tough year ahead. I maybe didn’t think it was going to take this long to come back — the knee has been rough on me,” he said.
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Wimbledon has come to be associated with Federer over his stellar career. In 2001, he defeated Pete Sampras to declare himself a player of the highest caliber. From there, he dominated at the pinnacle of his abilities, winning the Wimbledon eight times. “I’ve been lucky enough to play a lot of matches on this court,” he added. “It feels awkward to be here in a different type of role. It’s great to be here with all the other champions.” It’s been a good year regardless of tennis … I’m happy standing here right now,” he said.
The legendary Swiss player is preparing for his comeback; earlier this year, he announced that he would participate in the Basel, Switzerland event of the Swiss Indoors in October and the Laver Cup in September.
