Roger Federer admits to being scared to play any sport due to his weakened knees despite his retirement
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Roger Federer
Roger Federer is in his third month of retirement from tennis. The 20-time major winner was in a way forced to take early retirement as his knees continued to be his Achilles heel and with his increasing age, it was a forced move for him.
Federer played his last match at the 2022 Laver Cup partnering rival turned friend Rafael Nadal in a doubles clash. Federer did not have the medical clearance to even play a singles match and thus had to bow out from a doubles match a rather anti-climatic end for one of tennis’ greatest singles players.
Federer was recently in Tokyo for an event organized by his sponsor Uniqlo where the Swiss maestro returned to tennis courts but did not play any match. During a press conference in Tokyo, Federer was quizzed over his physical condition as he has his complete time devoted to recovering.
“I’m still a bit scared when it comes to other sports. My knees are so-so. So that has to wait. In the past, holidays always had to be relaxing because my tour life was so stressful. Now the holidays can be more adventurous,” said Federer.
Roger Federer discusses the mental problems of players
Having turned Pro in 1998, Federer had a highly successful career of 24 years which he dominated for the majority of it. Apart from Novak Djokovic and Nadal, not many could walk in against Federer as the favorite or an equal contender for the win.
With 2.5 decades on the Tour, it is safe to say Federer saw it all and it includes the change in both the physical and mental approaches. While the mental health discussions have started only recently, Federer talked about how taboo it was for players to just say they were tired.
“The tour is tough…the travel, the practice, the jetlag. Nobody is allowed to say, ‘I’m tired today,’ because it looks like you’re weak, and that’s why players sometimes end up with mental problems. You’re supposed to show strength. But we’re not machines, we’re human beings,” added the former World No. 1.
A recent example of this came when Jimmy Connors recently criticized Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff for poor performance at the 2022 WTA Finals. Neither of them could win a single match and later admitted to being tired due to a long season which led to the comments by the former World No. 1 in men’s tennis.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)