Federer has appeared in three summer Olympics so far: the 2000 Sydney games, Athens in 2004, and Beijing in 2008. At thirty years old with his career winding down the London Summer Olympics may be his last chance to win the elusive singles gold.
Federer finished the 2011 season with strength, winning his sixth ATP World Tour Finals, making his primary concern for the London games not how well he’s doing before, but as he said, “I am looking forward to next year, coming back to London, hopefully on three occasions and this is going to be a very important place to play good tennis. I hope to be healthy when the Olympics do come around.”
Federer is betting on playing not only in men’s singles at the London Olympics, but also in men’s doubles and mixed doubles. Playing in three events may be a bit unrealistic for Federer which he admits himself but he’s betting on a possible pairing with retired Martina Hingis, a former women’s No.1, as his partner in mixed doubles.
In a recent interview about playing the Olympics double with Hingis, Federer stated, “Might as well just see if she is available. If I played mixed with anybody it would be with Hingis just because she’s been an amazing player and I had my first kind of success at the Hopman Cup with her and practiced and played with her before. Even if she is retired, she might think about it at least. I’ve approached her already a long time ago, and I guess she just mentioned something to the press and it took a life of its own.”
“But I haven’t spoken to her myself yet. We’ll see where it goes. I know it’s a lot on your plate to play singles, doubles, and mixed. I need to decide if I want to do that in the first place, and then see if she will come out of retirement. Still have a lot of things to go through, but haven’t spoken yet. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
So there you have it. Federer may or may not play with Hingis which would be a dream match for many spectators. And if any of you have paid attention to the speculation that Federer will soon go into retirement following the London Olympics, ending his career on a high note - well its all a bunch of hoopla. Federer has plans beyond the 2012 Olympics, which have led many to think about where the future of his career will go, especially after it is considered one of the best ever.
Date: 19.12.2011, Source: 10sballs
