Roger Federer has "the worst behind him"
For the first time, the Laver Cup will take place without Roger Federer. The convalescent Swiss is nevertheless cautiously optimistic about the future.
by SID
last edit: Sep 20, 2021, 02:32 pm
His comeback is not yet in sight, but Roger Federer (40) is confident about the future. "I'm doing very well, the rehab is progressing step by step," said the tennis superstar from Switzerland at a sponsorship meeting with Mercedes-Benz in Zurich: "The worst is behind me, I'm looking forward to everything that happens to me to come. "
After his quarter-final at Wimbledon in July, Federer had an operation, it was the third surgery on his right knee since 2020. "When you come back from an injury, every day is a better day. So it's an exciting time, me I went through that last year, so it's not a mental problem at all, "said Federer.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion sees the return to the professional tour as a "challenge". Federer hopes to "get back to fitness training and the tennis court" as soon as possible, "but that still takes a little patience."
Laver Cup without Federer for the first time
The Laver Cup in Boston (September 24th to 26th) will therefore have to do without the initiator. "That hurts me a lot, of course," said Federer: "Of course I knew that at some point I wouldn't be able to be there, but I didn't think it would be this year."
He will follow the fourth edition of the team comparison between Europe and the rest of the world from a distance. "It's going to be three hardcore days when I get into tennis," he said, already looking to the year 2022 when the Laver Cup is in London. "One of my goals is to really get myself into it again to come back and hopefully play in places like the o2 arena in London."
Federer and his management launched the Laver Cup, an invitation tournament with the best players in the world, and the first edition took place in Prague in 2017. Team Europe won, led by Federer, as they did in Chicago and Geneva in 2018 and 2019. Last year, the pandemic fell victim.