It was the year 2021. Roger Federer was bidding to win his ninth Wimbledon title. The Swiss maestro had made it to the quarterfinals of the tournament and was up against the 14th seed, Hubert Hurkacz of Poland. In a contrasting turn of events, Hurkacz shocked the 20-time Grand Slam champion in straight sets. It was one of the Polish star’s most memorable victories and he also inflicted a bagel on Federer in the third set.

That was the last match Federer played. Subsequently, he suffered a knee injury that has kept him away from tennis. Recently, Federer talked about his worst time on the tennis court and how he arrived at his retirement decision.

Roger Federer on battling persistent knee problems

During an interview at the Laver Cup, Federer lifted the lid on how his knee injury led him to one of the worst hours of his tennis career. Talking about this, he said, “The last set vs Hurkacz was one of the worst hour of my career. I realized that nothing works anymore. It’s over. The disappointment felt like fireworks in my head. I didn’t know how to proceed with this knee.” 

Earlier, Federer had revealed that he would be making a comeback at this year’s Wimbledon Championships. However, it wasn’t the case, as he hadn’t recovered completely from his injury.

Talking about what led to his retirement decision, Federer said, “I felt at the beginning of the summer that my progress was not satisfactory, that my knee was not keeping well. At Wimbledon, I still believed in it, I thought it could still pass.”

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Further, he added, “Then I received a scan that was not great, and there was no more progress. In a few days, I told myself that it was over. Honestly, I didn’t feel like it anymore.” (Translated using Google Translate)

Federer to team up with Rafael Nadal?

The Swiss maestro has arrived in London to play in his last tournament. He hit a few balls with Stefanos Tsitsipas during a practice session. However, Federer hasn’t recovered completely from his knee injury, potentially ruling him out of singles matches at the tournament.

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Nonetheless, Federer maintained that he might team up with Nadal to play doubles at the Laver Cup. Fans will be thrilled if it does happen, seeing two legends playing together for one last time.