The ‘house money’ is on Roger Federer returning in time for Wimbledon 2022, according to one tennis legend. Federer, 40, has been sidelined since August, when he announced he was to undergo knee surgery that would rule him out of the subsequent US Open.
Indeed, his last competitive action came at SW19, where he reached the quarter-finals before beating beaten in straight sets by Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.
He lost the final set of the clash to love, the first time that had ever happened to him at Wimbledon and only the second time ever in a Grand Slam match – the other time occurring at Roland Garros against Rafael Nadal.
His inactivity has seen him drop out of the world’s top 10 for the first time in nearly five years, and his participation in the Australian Open appears in real doubt.
Th 20-time Grand Slam winner looked relaxed as he took to social media to post a photo of himself in green surroundings back in his native Switzerland, but another former major champion has cast doubt on him coming back any time soon.
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The Spaniard is currently tied with Federer, and Serbian star Novak Djokovic, on 20 Slam wins. However, while eight of the Swiss star’s titles have been won of the grass of Wimbledon, for Nadal 13 out of his 20 have come in Paris at the French Open.
And it’s there where Courier, himself a former Australian and French Open winner, thinks we’ll see the 35-year-old next.
“Nadal will be targeting Roland Garros and trying to round himself into form,” he added.
The tournament at Roland Garros gets underway on May 22, with Wimbledon not scheduled to start until June 27.
For her part, Shriver didn’t doubt Federer and Nadal would return in 2022, but only expects to see one of them challenge at a Grand Slam
“They will challenge for sure (Grand Slam title wins), Federer will not, Novak will for sure, I think he will get to 22 in ’22,” she said.
“And Rafa, I think will win one, and we’ll say one for either Medvedev or someone who has never won one before,” she added.
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