Federer has expressed his intention to first play at the Laver Cup alongside Rafael Nadal in London later this year. And he has pencilled in an appearance at the Swiss Indoors tournament too.
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Roger Federer hasn’t played competitive tennis for over a year, with his last appearance coming at Wimbledon 2021 when Hubert Hurkacz knocked him out of the tournament in the quarter-finals. However, for Federer, the journey is far from over, as he plots a return to action at the top level by 2023.
Federer, 40, is an icon of the sport and one of tennis’ greatest ever players. But like many of the top stars, he’s been hampered by injuries for a long time, but things really came to the boil during 2021, when the Swiss was still struggling to recover from knee surgery. As a result, he ended up undergoing further treatment in August last year, hoping to correct a long-standing issue to allow him to return to the sport at the top level in 2022.
On having the surgery, Federer made it clear that he would be missing from the tour for “many months” as he looked to ensure his recovery went right. But, by missing such a large chunk of action, it has seen the multiple-time Grand Slam winner slide out of the world top fifty for the first time since 2000. He currently sits at ninety-seven in the updated rankings and is on the verge of being ousted from the top one hundred.
But, with all that in mind, Federer has expressed his intention to first play at the Laver Cup alongside Rafael Nadal in London later this year. And he has pencilled in an appearance at the Swiss Indoors tournament too, which will take place in Basel, where Federer was born. So in many respects, they could prove to be ideal opportunities to see where the Swiss superstar is at and whether a return to the top level will be possible. Or if it’s time to bow out of the sport.
Suppose Federer performs well alongside Nadal in London, in a competition they have teamed up together for previously before going on to hold his own in Basel, even though he will have turned forty-one. In that case, it could well be a sign that there is still more for Federer to achieve at the very highest level. He can take inspiration from Nadal, who has had multiple injury setbacks but is still finding a way to be successful in Grand Slams. Federer has been the renaissance man before, and you wouldn’t bet against him being so once again.
And, talking of betting, and potentially Wimbledon, what would be the odds on Federer winning the tournament in 2023? It would give him enough time to find his feet at the elite level of tennis once again, and it could be not only the perfect way to announce a comeback. But Federer could then end his career on a real high, overcoming the odds to make it back, and retiring after winning Wimbledon for the ninth time, a tournament in which he hasn’t tasted success for over five years.
