Federer coach Ivan Ljubicic: No evidence of resignation
On the one hand, Roger Federer used the break caused by the corona pandemic to get his knee injury treated. Still, the 39-year-old Swiss could run out of time.
by tennisnet.com
last edit:
May 02, 2020, 12:43 pm
From a sporting point of view, Roger Federer has seen two things in the past few weeks: First, the Swiss posted a couple of trick hits against the wall, taken while spontaneous snowfall was still to be expected in his home country. A few days later, the solid volleyball performance with exquisite headgear, which has found many imitators worldwide.
However, none of this allows any conclusions to be drawn as to whether Federer would theoretically be operational again soon after his knee surgery. Severin Lüthi spoke on Wednesday at "Kasi Live" that Federer's first six weeks of rehabilitation would have gone optimally, after which there were probably minor complications. The question of a quick return does not arise anyway: Even if play operations on the ATP tour were to resume on July 13 - which nobody actually expects - Federer would very likely not be on sand.
Ljubicic sees veterans at an advantage
The long-term perspective is more important. And there is Ivan Ljubicic, alongside Lüthi second coach at Federer's side, as smart as before the onset of the Corona crisis. "Not much changes for us," said the Croatian in an interview with Sky Sport Italia. "The program is the same as it would have been without a virus. We haven't talked about 2021 yet. Time is certainly not going to stop and he will be 40 next year, but he has not yet indicated a possible retirement. ”
After his last long break in 2016, Federer had returned brilliantly by winning the 2017 Australian Open, with Ljubicic in his box. The Croatian, formerly number three in the world, believes that the established players will cope better with the break. “Probably those with more experience will do better on returning to the tennis courts, but in truth we don't know what will happen. The players actually want to play continuously, and the results in Australia, which often bring surprises after just a month's break, prove year after year. ”