As he prepares for the 2017 season, Roger Federer
said on Friday that he's feeling rejuvenated and is eager to come back
to tour-level competition after missing half of the 2016 season.
Federer, speaking with reporters on a conference call, said he's
played “very well” in practice matches with fellow players Lucas Pouille of France, Borna Coric of Croatia and Damir Dzumhur of
Bosnia and Herzegovina. Federer also said he doesn't regret sitting out
six months of the season. The Swiss legend last played in July at the Wimbledon semi-finals (l. to Raonic in five sets).
“I do believe it could be very beneficial for the future of my tennis
career that I've had this six-month layoff,” Federer said. “I feel
rejuvenated, refreshed. Maybe mentally I needed this rest more than I
thought I would. Maybe also my body needed a rest more than I thought I
would.”
The 88-time tour-level titlist had never taken off so much as a few
weeks in a season before this year. But 2016 was far from a regular
campaign for the 35-year-old father of four.
In February, for the first time in Federer's career, he had to undergo surgery. A day after losing in the Australian Open semi-finals,
Federer tore a meniscus in his left knee while preparing a bath for his
twin girls. The right-hander returned to competition two months later,
in Monte-Carlo, and, the following month, played the Internazionali BNL
d'Italia in Rome.
But Federer then missed another month of the season before making his
return on the grass in Stuttgart. He'd play only two more tournaments,
including Wimbledon, before later announcing he wouldn't play again until 2017.
“It was really about taking a tough decision to say, 'I give myself
time, I deserve to give myself time.' I take six months off in a 20-year
career, it's OK. If you look at six months off in a 12-month season it
sounds like there's no chance I'm ever going to take six months off,”
Federer said. “But I tried to look at the big picture. At least one
thing I know now is I have no regrets. I
feel I did everything this year to get my body back in shape and now
only time can tell.”
Resting for so long assured Federer that he wouldn't need a second
surgery on his left knee. “That for me was No. 1 and crucial. I just
needed it to rest really,” he said.
After Wimbledon,
he tried to play again in August but decided against seriously testing
his knee. “I played again, very quick. There was a bit of a reaction in
the knee and that's when you realise... we knew it was too early,” he
said.
Last month, Federer took a couple weeks off before resuming training
for 2017. “The last six weeks for me have been crucial and obviously the
last two weeks in November when I came back from vacation were really
important for me to see how much load I could put on the leg,” Federer
said. “Very quickly we realised at the end of November, early December, I
was not at 100 per cent yet, let's be honest, because you always need
more time, more reassurance. But things went very well. I didn't have
any setbacks. In the end it all worked out according to plan.”
The time off had upsides as well. “It was great to spend more quality
time with the kids, or me with more energy rather than having to worry,
'Careful, I have a match tomorrow' or 'I need to go to bed' or in the
morning 'Don't wake me up' kind of thing because daddy needs to sleep a
little bit,” Federer said.
Federer returns to action at the Hopman Cup, starting on 1 January 2017,
which he will play in for the first time since he teamed up with his now
wife Mirka in 2002. He will partner compatriot Belinda Bencic, 19, at
the international team tournament in Perth.
Federer said his goal was to get fully fit and he was looking forward
to a few matches in Perth before the year's first grand slam - Australian Open starts
later in the month in Melbourne.
“This year is unique because
maybe this is the year more than any time before where I do need matches
at the beginning of the season. Matches have a different intensity about it and your body reacts according to it. I’ve played over 15 sets in practice the last few weeks and I feel I am there. It’s been a great preparation,” Federer said.
Federer, who has won 24 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles and 17 Grand
Slam crowns, said he thinks his 18th Grand Slam title could come next
season.
“I do hope it's around the corner,”
Federer said. “If it's not, it's not. My mindset is always very positive
that it can happen or should happen or that I am doing everything that I
can to possibly achieve that.
“I think I've been awfully close the last few years but that doesn't count because it wasn't winning.
“Time will tell if it's going to be possible or not.”
Date: 24 December 2016, Source: ATP and ABC
