The legendary Roger Federer left the 2021 season abruptly with multiple minor injuries and one massive injury to deal with. The Swiss star got surgeries done on his knee in late 2021 and has been recovering since then in order to be back on the court for at least one last time before he calls it a day.
His former tour mate, friend and tennis rival Rafael Nadal after overtaking both Federer and Djokovic in the race for the most grand slams talked about Federer’s recovery and how touched he was when Federer congratulated him through social media.
“I’m gonna tell Roger Federer in private, no? I wasn’t able yet to answer but yeah it means a lot to me, no? We have an amazing relationship. We did amazing things together, for me it’s a huge honor to be part of his era,” the World No.
“Together I think we lived amazing moments of the history of our sport. And you know, receiving this message from him means a lot to me, no?” The Spaniard then extended his best wishes to Federer, who is himself battling a serious knee injury at the moment.
“I wish him well, he knows, I really hope we will be able to play again in important stages.” Towards the end of the interview, Rafael Nadal insisted that he was uncertain about whether he could win the title prior to arriving in Melbourne.
“I never thought I’m gonna have a chance again to enjoy like this… have been impossible to imagine a day like this a few years ago, so. I think I worked hard, all my team and family were next to me supporting me during these hard times.
I was not ready for a match like this, at all. Was a big surprise, the most unexpected of my tennis career. But yeah, very very special,”
Meanwhile Federer gave an update to Credit Suisse regarding his recovery saying, “I have very interesting and important few months ahead of me. I feel like I will know a whole lot more this coming April where my body is going to be like. Up until now I wasn’t really allowed to run yet, doing the heavy workload with jumps and stop-and-go’s. So, I hope that’s all going to start, hopefully in a couple of weeks, and then we will see how the body will react to that.”
“The drive is there, I’m really motivated to do my work and what I’m allowed to do,” Federer continued. “I did it all again this morning and I’m back in the gym tomorrow.
“It’s still good times even though it’s a little bit slow because I would love to do way more, but the doctors and everybody is holding me back a little bit.”