After the long break and the operation on his right knee, Roger Federer has played two tournaments in 2021 and next week he will participate in Roland Garros 2021, the second Grand Slam of the year. The Swiss champion took the court in Doha and Geneva.
In the Qatar event, he reached the quarter-finals and lost to Nikoloz Basilashvili, later winner of the tournament; in the home tournament, he gave up in straight sets to Spaniard Pablo Andujar. In an interview with GQ, Federer spoke about his future and his ambitions.
Retirementl? I don’t know, I’m really calm about my career and my life. And I know this moment is one last big, huge opportunity to do something great. It’s always like that when you have achieved all that I have achieved.
I don’t want to be misunderstood: I want to earn even more. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have spent the whole year having surgery, walking on crutches and going through long rehabilitation.
I really believe that I can win again, but first I have to prove to myself that the body can support me; the mind is ready.
Can’t believe I’m 39 to be honest. I’m 40 years old. It is as if I had spent my life traveling around the Tour. I had a lot of fun, even though I had a hard time. I played with all kinds of problems.
I look like an 80-year-old who considers his childhood to be his favorite part of him (he laughs, editor’s note). We have to find a way to be happy on the Tour, because there are a lot of things at stake: points, money, fame, victories, the media.
Fortunately, I didn’t have to deal with all of these things even with social media. I’m glad my education on the Tour was a bit more normal. In general, it is important to have a mental balance. In the world of sports this happens many times: you make your dream come true and then you wonder if you can even push yourself further.
You become number five in the world, but you aim to be number one. It is not easy to manage all of this; it’s very, very difficult. “
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