It looks like Federer won’t be playing any more tennis this year as he announced on Instagram that he’d be having further knee surgery.
“I want to be healthy […] I want to be running around later, as well, again, and I want to give myself a glimmer of hope, also, to return to the tour in some shape or form. I am realistic, don’t get me wrong. I know how difficult it is at this age right now to do another surgery and try it.”
I’m not gonna say the R-word or talk about it. The tennis media is likely frothing at the mouth with their unnecessary think pieces, saved in their drafts since 2012-13. Instead, I will marvel at the fact a 39-year-old man, after 2 knee surgeries managed to reach the quarter-finals of the French Open—his weakest slam—and managed to reach the quarter-finals of Wimbledon without the level of match play or fitness of his opponents. Others saw shocking defeats and questionable exits but I saw someone trying to squeeze out every last drop of his career and surpassing realistic expectations.
So let’s leave the career obituaries for a day or seven and appreciate what time we have left with him as an active tennis player.