Roger Federer gives no guarantees of returning to Centre court

07/17/2017

Despite a record eighth Wimbledon title, Roger Federer has said that he is not sure if he will return to play another Wimbledon as he feels his age may catch up with him finally. The Swiss maestro also expressed his disbelief at coming back and winning a Slam after his long injury lay-off last year.

Federer claimed his 19th Grand Slam title defeating Croatia’s Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 to become Wimbledon’s oldest men’s winner of the modern era, succeeding Arthur Ashe, who was almost 32 when he won in 1976. But Federer, who turns 36 in three weeks’ time, doesn’t offer any guarantee of returning to his most-beloved Centre court to defend his crown.

"I hope that I'm back, but there's never a guarantee, especially not at 35," he told reporters after winning the title, reported Reuters.

After a tough 2016, Federer made a solid comeback to win two Grand slams (the last time he won two Slams in a year was in 2009), and undoubtedly, this comeback trail would go down as one of the most remarkable tales in the sport’s history. The Swiss, himself, also admits that he was in awe of his recent form.

“It’s disbelief I can achieve such heights. I wasn’t sure I would ever be here in another final after last year,” said Federer, who has now broken the tie for seven Wimbledon titles he shared with Pete Sampras and William Renshaw.

“I had some tough ones in the finals, losing two against Novak (Djokovic). But I always believed. I kept on believing and dreaming I could get back. Here am I today with the eighth. It’s fantastic, if you keep believing you can go far in your life.”

Since his latest comeback to the court, Federer won his 18th Slam in Australia in January before adding the Indian Wells and Miami Masters back-to-back and a ninth Halle grasscourt title. He, however, skipped the entire clay-court season to keep himself fit.

“I’ve got to take more time off,” joked Federer. “I’ll be gone again for the next six months! I don’t know if it will work as well again.”