Six-time Australian Open champion, Roger Federer, has expressed doubts about his ability to continue on his current form. Federer has undergone two knee operations and missed all of the action this tennis season, as he works hard to return to fighting form.
He announced last week at the Switzerland Sport Awards that he will not compete again for the rest of the 2020 season, causing fans to speculate upon Federer’s return at the 2021 Australian Open. Although, thanks to the expected delay of the Australian Open, which is likely to begin on the 8th of February 2021, could give Federer an additional three weeks to work on returning to full fitness.
“It’s a race against time for the Australian Open, we’ll see,” he said at the Switzerland Sport Awards.
Federer has, however, confirmed that the European summer of 2021 is his priority, and he expects to be back to optimal health in time to compete in Wimbledon in 2021.
Federer is hoping to get back to 100 percent before the upcoming Australian Open season, however this is not for certain. The 20-time Grand Slam champion has reportedly been training hard in recent weeks to speed up his recovery and improve his performance on the court.
Federer, whose last Grand Slam win was the 2018 Australian Open, said he “experienced a setback during [his] initial rehabilitation.” Shortly after his first surgery, Federer reached the 2020 Australian Open semi-final, where he lost in three sets to defending champion, Novak Djokovic. As his first tournament of 2021, the Australian Open should give Federer a chance to achieve peak performance once again.
Federer, who turns 40 years old next August, said his 2021 priorities remain on Wimbledon, the US Open and the Tokyo Olympics. He hopes to achieve his first singles gold medal win at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which are now set to start in July 2021.
