Roger Federer was one of the big absentee at the Tokyo Olympics, especially since this was supposed to be his last appearance at the Olympics. The former world number 1 had also skipped the 2016 edition in Rio when a series of physical problems caused him to leave the tour for the entire second half of the season.
Since returning to the tour in March of that year, the Swiss champion had stated he would try to win the gold medal in the singles, one of the few awards missing from his unlimited showcase.
Roger had to be content with silver in London in 2012, beaten in the final by Andy Murray after having used all his energy against Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals. The 20-time Grand Slam winner can still boast gold in doubles, won at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Fans were hoping for Federer’s participation in Tokyo, but the absence of spectators and the imperfect physical condition caused him to hoist the white flag. In a recent interview for the ITF website, the maestro recalled the best moments at the Olympic Games.
Federer had also skipped Rio 2016
“When I look back, I am very aware of how much fun we had with Stan in Beijing, it was amazing to win doubles together. That gave me a huge boost after losing to James Blake in the singles.
In those games I wanted to hang an individual medal and I didn’t. After losing to James (Blake) we had to play doubles the next day and I remember Stan saying to me, ‘This is what’s left, let’s do it.’ It was a great week with him and Severin Lüthi, something wonderful, ”said Roger Federer.
“We made that gesture after the semi-finals and also when we won the title. We just had to. It was like a scene where Stan played so well that I thought he was like fire, so I go to him And pretend I’m warming up with fire
It was silly of us, but it was a lot of fun, I think we were both happy to do it. I still have the semi-final against the Bryans in mind, they were number one and we also knew that if we won we would already have silver or bronze.
It is a shame that the defeated in the semifinals do not automatically receive the bronze. I remember losing a medal that way at the 2000 Olympics. I lost in the semi-finals and then lost the bronze medal game, which was really torture at the time, ”added Federer.
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