A serious right knee problem has significantly limited Roger Federer’s appearances on the pitch in the past two years. Suffice it to say that the Swiss champion played the misery of 13 official matches in 2021, collecting nine wins and four losses.
The round of 16 at Roland Garros and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon were his best seasonal results, a far too meager booty for a legend of his caliber. A few weeks after the Championships, the 20-time Grand Slam champion announced that he had suffered a knee relapse and had to operate for the third time in 18 months.
The 40-year-old from Basel is still undergoing rehabilitation and hopes to return in late summer or early autumn, perhaps for the Laver Cup (which will take place at the O2 Arena in London at the end of September). Fans are hoping that the former world number 1 will be able to treat himself to one last round of the merry-go-round before hanging up his racket.
In a long interview granted to ‘Tennisnet’, Dominik Koepfer recalled his battle against Federer at Roland Garros 2021. The German surrendered in four sets, after having wasted several chances.
Koepfer on facing Roger Federer
In a long interview given to our colleagues from Tennisnet, the German player necessarily returned to his match against Roger Federer during the 2021 edition of Roland-Garros.
A duel lost in four very tight sets after 3h40 of play. “Of course it’s bittersweet when you play against Roger, you come so close and you don’t win. It was probably one of the last chances to beat him I think. He is slowly on his way to retirement.
Nonetheless, it was a great experience. It was also a bit of a shame that it didn’t happen in front of spectators. It was during the night session and there was a curfew in Paris, you were not allowed to go out after 9 p.m.
After that it will still be a beautiful memory. But I also know that I have regrets because I had my chances. Looking back, I think I lacked nerve at the end of the match.” Davidovich Fokina considers Federer as his idol.
He grew up watching the Swiss maestro and believes he has a similar personality as Federer. Talking about his emotions during Federer’s tough loss against Nadal in the 2009 Australian Open final, he said, “I cried when he lost in Australia.
I cried with him”. The Spaniard believes that he is an emotional person. Earlier, he said, “When I lose a lot of matches, I cry a lot”.
