Roger Federer has had to deal with a serious right knee injury for the past two years. The former world number 1 has only played 13 official matches in 2021, collecting nine wins and four losses.
The round of 16 at Roland Garros and the quarter-finals at Wimbledon were his best results of the season, far too meager a loot for a legend of his caliber.
A few weeks after the Championships, the King announced that he had suffered a relapse in his knee and was due for surgery for the third time in 18 months. The 20-time Grand Slam champion hopes to be back in action in late summer or early fall, possibly for the Laver Cup (which takes place at London’s O2 Arena in late September).
The Swiss champion had to capitulate to Rafael Nadal in the all-time Majors rankings, while Novak Djokovic grabbed the record for weeks atop the ATP rankings. In a long interview with ‘Tennis Magazin’, Alexander Waske praised Roger’s humility both on and off the court.
Waske parle de Roger Federer
“In my eyes, you are the greatest when you are not only successful but have changed the whole of a sport. Roger Federer has done that in an impressive way.
His elegance and style of play weren’t there before, not to mention that down-to-earth attitude. I have the greatest respect for him, not only as a player but also as a person,” Waske said.
The former doubles world number 16 has revealed he and the Swiss had to stay in the same house for a few weeks in 2015 when Waske was part of Tommy Haas’ entourage.
“I vividly remember an episode with him at Wimbledon in 2015, when I was coaching Tommy Haas. We were sitting together in a very big, very fancy house rented by Tommy’s management.
A week later, Prince Albert of Monaco was to live there. Wearing shoes was prohibited inside the house. The screams of the children were huge as the two Federer twins and Tommy’s daughter were playing hide and seek,” Waske said.
Roger came down the stairs in his socks and said calmly, ‘Girls, don’t make so much noise. Play and have fun, but you mustn’t be heard on the first floor’
Any other father would have said the same thing. It was not the multiple Grand Slam champion and multi-millionaire who said that, but a normal father of two daughters who gently but clearly put an end to the loud screaming of his children,” he added.
–
