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TENNIS

Federer confirms return to the court pre-Wimbledon

Swiss superstar Roger Federer will play at next week's ATP tournament in Stuttgart, then Halle the week after as he returns from a back injury, it was confirmed on Thursday.

Federer confirms return to the court pre-Wimbledon
File photo: Miguel Medina/AFP

The 17-time Grand Slam winner will play in Stuttgart from June 6th-12th, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary, before playing his next grasscourt tournament in Germany at Halle the week after.
   
The 34-year-old will be bidding for his ninth win in Halle in his warm-up for Wimbledon, which he has already won seven times.
   
The Swiss dropped out of the French Open at Roland Garros, which concludes this weekend, with a back injury.

In Paris on Thursday Swiss eighth seed Timea Bacsinszky was denied a second semifinal appearance by Kiki Bertens, who became the first Dutchwoman in 45 years to reach the French Open semifinal, winning 7-5, 6-2 over the Swiss.

There were seven breaks of serve in the opening set which ended with Bertens in control of the tie but needing to have her left calf strapped.
   
She raced into a 4-0 lead in the second set before Bacsinszky, who was to end the match with 40 unforced errors, briefly rallied.
   
But it was all too little, too late and Bertens' powerful, deep hitting gave her victory on a second match point.

In the men's draw, Swiss defending champion Stan Wawrinka plays Briton Andy Murray in the semifinal later today.

The 31-year-old Swiss is the oldest semi-finalist in Paris since Jimmy Connors in 1985.
   
Murray leads their head-to-head 8-7 but Wawrinka has won their last three meetings.
   
The third seed has also won both their tour claycourt meetings — in Rome in 2008 and Monte Carlo in 2013.
   
However, Wawrinka insists that Murray is the favourite, even claiming that the Scot is in a different class despite both men having claimed two Grand Slam titles apiece.
   
“If you were to compare our two careers he's well ahead of me given all the titles, the finals, number two in the world, and he has so many Masters 1000, as well,” said Wawrinka who was also the 2014 Australian Open champion.

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ROGER FEDERER

Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?

Roger Federer is talking optimistically about returning to his "highest level" after knee surgery, but does tennis have to start adjusting to a future without the Swiss star?

Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?
Is it the end of the line for Roger? Photo: Martin BUREAU / AFP

The 20-time Grand Slam winner announced on Wednesday that he would be sidelined until 2021 after his second operation in a matter of months.

Federer remains upbeat, tweeting: “I plan to take the necessary time to be 100 percent ready to play at my highest level.”

In some ways 2020 is a good season to miss after the coronavirus ravaged the tennis schedule. Writing Federer off in the past has proved dangerous.

He returned from a six-month injury lay-off to claim the Australian Open in 2017, winning his eighth Wimbledon crown later that year.

But he will be 40 in 2021 and is now heading into uncharted territory.

Despite his groaning trophy cabinet, there are two factors that will motivate Federer to keep going — the risk of losing his grip on the men's Grand Slam title record and a missing Olympics singles gold medal.

Rafael Nadal has 19 majors, just one shy of Federer's mark and Djokovic has 17.

Spain's Nadal will be fancied to draw level with Federer at the French Open, rescheduled for September, while few would bet against Djokovic winning in New York weeks earlier.

In April, Federer said he was “devastated” when Wimbledon was cancelled for the first time since World War II. Last year he fell agonisingly short at the All England Club, failing to convert two championship points on his own serve against Djokovic.

The Wimbledon grass probably remains his best chance of adding to his Grand Slam collection — he has not won the US Open since 2008 and his only title at Roland Garros came in 2009.

Even though Federer has slipped from the very pinnacle of the game, he is still a major threat to Nadal and Djokovic.

'Golden' ambitions

Last year, the world number four had a 53-10 win-loss record and he reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January in his only tournament this year.

Federer, who is still six ATP titles short of Jimmy Connors' all-time record of 109, has one glaring omission from his CV — the Olympic title.

The Swiss won doubles gold in Beijing in 2008 with compatriot Stan Wawrinka but lost in the singles final to Andy Murray in London four years later.

The postponed Tokyo Games will almost certainly be Federer's last opportunity to complete a career “golden” Grand Slam — he will turn 40 on the day of the closing ceremony next year.

Tennis will feel the loss of the elegant Federer keenly when he walks off the court for the last time.

Djokovic and Nadal have been the dominant forces in recent years but the Swiss remains the biggest draw and last month topped Forbes' list of the world's highest-earning athletes.

His last appearance on court was in front of nearly 52,000 fans — touted by organisers as a world record for tennis — at a charity match against Nadal in Cape Town in February.

Federer is nearly always the crowd favourite wherever he plays and has proved a perfect ambassador for the sport since he won his first Grand Slam title in 2003.

He certainly expects to be back and competitive next year.

“I will be missing my fans and the tour dearly but I will look forward to seeing everyone back on tour at the start of the 2021 season,” he tweeted.

The avalanche of support from his adoring fans showed they would miss him too, but they will have to get used to a time when he is gone for good.

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