RF Tennis News 2021

Roger has almost a Zen like quality about him. Admirable that he is so balanced, or that he can bring himself to that point of  balance.
 It is wonderful to hear him talk about how he takes things!

federerworshipper wrote:I was sure that Roger would be playing the Laver Cup. But he says only the doubles matches, and, after consulting with his Doctor and Team. Wow. But I am glad to hear that he was dancing on that knee, and he is really looking good and rested. [...]

It's not Roger who said that. It's Simon Graf's guess, saying in his tweet:
"In the next days, @rogerfederer will meet with his team and his doctor. Hasn’t started practice yet.
My guess: He’ll skip the @usopen, try to take part in the @LaverCup (play doubles) and end the season early"...

Having said that, I am sure that Roger will do everything possible to be in Boston, even if it's only as a supporter, if he can't play.

Did any of is fans realize that Roger lost that Wimbledon match because he was hurt? He never said anything afterwards either but it has set him back so much. It may be my imagination but I think he was feeling great in the Sonego match. At one point he leapt effortlessly for an overhead smash and then, jumped up again (seemingly for sheer delight that he could). I think something happened then and he probably knew that he was not 100 % going into the Hurkacz match.

I've been watching some of the Roger's Cup and, oh how I miss our Rog. There is no one remotely like him. I like Shapo's style but he is far too erratic. Barren days ahead without  Roger.

I had no doubt Roger was suffering from the knee problem in that final Wim match, and some other new injury as well. He hasn't been playing much, and it's harder to recover from or ward off injuries as you get older no matter how fit you are and it's not only Roger who's suffered from lack of matchplay. It might not be very bad but it would be distracting.. 

By the final set, I think he'd mentally had enough. It might not have been as bad re pain as during that USO match 4th round that he lost in IIRC 2013 to Tommy Robredo, when he said afterwards that all he could think of was to get off the court and again I think it was that year he played in obvious agony against Rafa at IW, and Rafa was openly so concerned for him. But it was bad enough. 

It need not be future-threatening, but it was enough of a problem all added together, to lose his usual cool in the final set.

It could be he pulled something or whatever during the previous set, badly enough that it was hard to concentrate after that, let alone it seems the knee is still fragile, though we can't be sure of the full situation and it may be some other injury has been more of a problem.

As I may have said before here, I think the bagel was a rare case of Roger losing his cool - frustration, disappointment, you name it. And we have seen and heard of some unusual results and unusual feelings and unexpected injuries from players due to the pandemic situation throwing them out of the usual pattern of the tour. I am sure if we made a close assessment, we'd be able to pick out some very odd results and not players saying afterwards how they were affected by quarantine restrictions, lack of match play, lack of social interaction, unable to have their whole team including friends and family with them and so on. 

It all adds up. So I don't frankly take this bagel too seriously. It was annoying for Roger to suffer one, but it's not so completely unusual. Roger bagelled a perfectly fit (so far as we know) ND during a round at Cincy. ND was utterly confused and upset and you could see Roger was sympathetic. Same kind of thing happened to Jo-Willi during that Wim2011 I think it was match when he lost the first 2 sets to Roger so badly that he was openly distressed and embarrassed, and Roger was clearly sympathetic. But then Jo-Willi broke Roger early in set 3 and from then on he was almost unplayable and Roiger couldn't get back any initiative in spite of trying hard. It was one of those days for Jo-Willi, just as it was Hurkacz's day at Wim. 

We and many others and all the media get hung up over Roger's every movement or lack of, but plenty of other players have problems. Stan W still not back on court and w/d from USA. Dominic Thiem has had a bad wrist problem and it's not clear how fit he is even though as I recall he expects to play USO. Sascha went through a long period of struggling with form and perhaps it was injury too. Feli Lopez had injury issues but he's not a "top player" so only his keen fans like me hear about it eventually. I don't know if mono is still going through the tennis players, haven't heard of it for a while, but for all we know it may still recur even if only slightly in those who've been contaminated with it - Roger and Feli for example. And then there are the Covid vaccines. We know Roger has had the jabs.. Even in the young and fit there can be some reactions. They are mostly only very slight and hopefully don't last long, but it can be enough to distract an athlete at a critical time, IMO. 

We are not living in what we in our lifetimes see as normal times. Sigh.

Rosaline, your points make a lot of sense. Indeed, we are too close and gtend to worry about Roger's state of health. And yet we are not on the inside to be able to put our finger on the magnitured of any injury or even a state of health.

Yes, it's difficult. All we can do is wait and see what happens. I refuse to worry too much, because some day Roger will retire, as my earlier heroes have all had to do eventually. They don't disappear. 

But also I look for young players to follow. Continuity is important and the up and coming players deserve their own time in the spotlight. I wonder how we will look back on now in say 10 years from now. I look back on my past heroes but if they were still at the top, it would be crazy. 

Imagine, we were so worried in 2013 and again in 2016. But then look at 2017!!! We have been very blessed by living in Roger's era. And of course others will say they have been very blessed to live in Rafa's and ND's era - or whoever. 

I have the same issues with my other passion, skiing. My No.1 favourite of all time is also Swiss, though older than Roger. But he is clearly very happy with his later life, his family, and their achievements. What will Roger's children do to enthral us? I do hope one of them will be a great skiing champion and I'm sure Roger would love that, and I am sure ND hopes for that for one of his children as I remember him saying he preferred skiing to tennis (so do I). Life has to go on.

News from Rog:

Roger Federer announces he will undergo another knee surgery. "I'll need another surgery so I'll be on crutches for many weeks and out of the game for many months. It's the right thing to do because I wanna be healthy and give myself a glimmer of hope to return to the tour."

— Gaspar Ribeiro Lança (@gasparlanca) August 15, 2021

Hope it goes well!! We will miss you

Roger's Instagram video

(( pic.twitter.com/k5BhMmPkVX

— SteakRF (@SteakWang) August 15, 2021

The king. Absolutely gutted. Wishing him the absolute maximum full health.

I wonder what happened, that's 3 surgeries now. Damn.

I'm so sad.....

Thanks Sherl! 

Really sad news!   How they couldn't get it right the first time, or second??

Anyway, if this is what it take for Roger to get back on his feet, so to speak, so be it. We will be with you all the way, Champ!

Wishing you a full recovery this time, and lots of courage and patience to get there.

My heart broke listening to him because he hasn't given up hope of returning- I had come to an acceptance that we would not see him on the ATP tour again.

While I acknowledge Roger's absolute right to privacy, I wish he would share with us exactly what is wrong- what are they repairing? His ligaments probably? 

I remember a long time ago Rafa spoke bitterly that Roger would come out of his tennis career 'smelling like a rose' while he himself would be less than 100%. It seemed impossible then that Roger could ever sustain a career ending injury. None of us would have imagined that that is how it would end. I think Roger himself cannot accept that his body would dictate the end of this journey.

May he find peace and acceptance for whatever life holds in store for him. I will remain his faithful fan through this journey[ it has been a privilege and will continue to be so.

I wonder if it is the same knee? Roger's message was thoughtful and he was clearly thinking of his fans, too.
 He did say he wanted to let us know what was going on, as he was aware that some encourage him and also those who also suffer with him.  
 I don't give up hope for the best. He is not the regular kind of athlete and player: he carries some qualities of a Greek hero and being beyond standard limitations. He can stretch things to go further.
 I do know that it will depend on how things go and how he feels about the end results.
 I just can't imagine not seeing him play any more in a competitive sense!
 And I agree, bless you Roger and may you get all the assitance from doctors and helpers and also from above.

Very sad to hear this but not totally surprised. I'm sure Roger will do what's best for him and his family. I'm sure he wants to be able to ski, hike etc when retired and not be in pain. It would have been nice if he could have had a farewell tour and maybe he will do something if this surgery is successful. Perhaps the other surgeries did the job as long as he doesn't play professional tennis.

Here's another Chris Clarey interview about his upcoming book. Nice audio interview.

https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/sporty/federer-the-master-and-mnd-and-exercise/13490790

Re whether the earlier surgeries were fine if Roger didn't play tennis, skiing is very hard indeed on the knees at times. Even an easy run can have issues if the weather's dodgy. Skiing depends on the knees so much. If he can't play competitive tennis, he can still ski in easy conditions, as he is undoubtedly a skilled skier, but he would have to be careful of really tricky terrain so it would restrict his skiing a lot as conditions can change dramatically with the weather. The last thing he'd want is the knee to fail him in a critical situation and then he could have a very very bad long fall. 

So I would say another surgery, since it seems needed, is a very good idea for his future, even if he doesn't in the end manage much more tennis. He can still play tennis away from the tour when he wants, and ski for the rest of his life. 

We saw how after problems all through his tennis career, he finally seemed to solve the back issue. So it's always very hopeful that with all his resources he can finally get the knee under reasonable control. 

And yes, he is a most unusual player, and I can't see why he can't play on the tour at a high level for some years yet if the knee can take it. You aren't past it just because you turn 40, you are past it when your body can't do it any more and that depends entirely on the individual. Do we really think much about other past 40 players still on the tour? I suspect not. It's all agonising about Roger Roger Roger!!! Mind you I entirely understand why. 

He is the greatest player I've ever seen in my lifetime, but also he's magnetic as well, and that is more rare. You just can't stop wanting to watch him play, can you?  You can't say, oh I won't bother to watch this next match, he's sure to win and I think I'll go out for the day as it's sunny, or it means staying up half the night and I can't be bothered to do that, I'll have a good sleep and hope for the best. How often have we all refused to go anywhere until Roger's match is ended/stayed up most of the night, indeed I have often, to watch Roger play. And we can still remember so much in detail about the matches. 

Good luck Roger, in hope this is the clincher op, and hoping to see you on court again soon.

Rosaline well said, I'm the same re - organising my days and nights around all his matches. If it's 3am at cincy rnd 64, no problem, its Roger. Magnetic to watch. Today's equivalent, Murray vs Gasquet tnight. Nowhere near the same, ill be asleep! haha

Wishing him health & happiness xxxxx