Roger Federer’s coach Ivan Ljubicic said on Monday that the 20-time Grand Slam champion is unlikely to return to competitive action at Australian Open 2022. However, Ljubicic stressed Federer is keen on returning to action and not thinking about retirement yet.
Roger Federer has floundered in recent times due to multiple injuries. He has been inactive on the court since losing in the Wimbledon quarter-finals in July and undergoing another round of knee surgery. The 40-year-old underwent arthroscopic right knee surgeries in February 2020 and May 2020. Ljubicic said Federer wants to return to peak fitness and be ready to mount a title challenge whenever he gets back on the tour.
“I think there are very few chances, he is still recovering, and knowing him, he wants to be sure he can play to win the tournament and be at 100%. So I think the Australian Open is not a real possibility right now.”
“But he will go step by step because he is 40 years old now and he needs to be patient. He cannot recover as quickly as he used to. We have spoken and I can guarantee he wants to return to playing tennis. When he decides to stop he will retire, but I don’t think it’s going to happen all of a sudden,” he added
Federer last won a Grand Slam title in 2018 (Australian Open). He defeated Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to win his sixth Australian Open title. As things stand, Roger Federer is tied (20) with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the race to be the most successful men’s singles Grand Slam champion of all time. Last month, Roger Federer dropped out of the Top-10 in the ATP rankings.