Roger Federer has remained competitive on the ATP circuit for many years, thanks to his style of play and his ability to manage. The last two seasons have been a real ordeal for the Swiss, who had to deal with a serious right knee injury.
After reaching the semi-final at the Australian Open in 2020, the former ATP number 1 was no longer able to play as he would have liked. The King tried a timid comeback last year, but it was immediately clear how far he was from the best condition.
The 40-year-old from Basel played just 13 official matches in 2021, collecting nine wins and four losses. The round of 16 at Roland Garros and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon were his best seasonal results, a far too meager booty for a legend of his caliber.
A few weeks after the Championships, the 20-time Grand Slam champion announced his decision to have his knee operated again. Roger is still undergoing rehabilitation and is expected to return to the Laver Cup, scheduled in London from 23 to 25 September.
On the ‘Kasich and Klepper’ podcast, Andy Roddick admitted that he was always jealous of Federer.
Roddick talks about Federer
“It’s his ease of operation, right?” Roddick said. “If the way that Roger Federer’s able to go about his business, I would, you know, play a practice match, be out there for two hours.
I’d play it just like I was gonna play three days later in the first run of a slam and I’d walk by Roger’s court and he’s laughing and joking. And he is relaxed. That was where my jealousy came in: the way that he was able to kind of tend to his responsibilities away from the court, kind of always be in a good mood, which was incredibly annoying for the rest of us moody people,” he added.
Additionally, Roddick called Federer a “great human” and encouraged those whose hero is the Swiss player to meet him. “He has this ease of operation which is creates envy but he’s a great human,” Roddick said.
“They say don’t meet your heroes i say if your hero’s Fed you should look for that introduction.” The former World Number 1 last played at the Wimbledon Championships in 2021. At that tournament, he had a quarterfinal exit against Hubert Hurkacz.
Subsequently, Federer suffered a knee injury that has troubled him in the past as well. He underwent knee surgery to repair the damage done, which ruled him out for the remainder of the 2021 season.
