‘Roger Federer doesn’t want to retire by the back door,’ says Alex Corretja

‘Roger Federer doesn’t want to retire by the back door,’ says Alex Corretja

Roger Federer

20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer recently announced that he will be skipping the remaining part of the ongoing 2021 season, to focus on his injured knee. The Swiss maestro even declared that he will be undergoing a third surgery on his knee to enable him to lead a healthy life going forward.

Federer was last seen at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships, where he dragged his way to the quarterfinals. However, the eight-time winner was stunned by Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets. In fact, the Pole also bageled Federer in the last set.

After his exit from the All England Club, many wondered if the former World No.1 would ever return to action. While Federer did state that he would want to return to the court, a time and a place is uncertain. That said, former two-time French finalist is reasonably confident that the 40-year-old will bounce back from his injury setback.

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The Spaniard also opined that Federer wouldn’t want to leave the stage in an unpleasant way, but would be itching to get back in shape and even may be win another Grand Slam at Wimbledon.

“I think he wants to make the most of his remaining tennis. He doesn’t want to retire by the back door, he wants to do it by playing. They are too good to go out the back door. At Wimbledon, at 50%, he reached the quarter-finals. He may think that if he’s okay, he still has a chance to win there. His intensity and ball speed are always higher than the others,” the former clay court specialist told Marca.

Big-Three will retire on own terms

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer
Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer

Corretja further mentioned along with Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic too will prefer to leave on their own terms and are unlikely to get outclassed by the next generation.

“I think the three of the Big 3 feel that they depend more on them than on the others, even though they know that Medvedev, Tsitsipas and Zverev keep their pace for three, four hours. Two years ago, it was impossible,” explained Corretja.

Also read: ‘Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams are poised to be called the GOATS,’ says Chris Evert