Roger Federer has not been seen on a tennis court for over 8 months and the hiatus will stretch until the Swiss Master’s expected return at Australian Open 2021. The pandemic break coupled with his knee surgery has forced Federer to take the year off. But this break has been tough on Federer’s exclusive fan club ‘Fans4Roger’.

In a recent conversation with Blick, ‘Fans4Roger’ club president Thomas Reuteler explained the hardships faced by the club due to Federer’s absence from the tour.

“Most of the expenditure is still there. This situation is a foretaste of what will inevitably come our way.” (quotes have been translated)

‘Fan4Roger’ club president on Roger Federer not playing

Further, Reuteler also spoke about the future of the club after Federer’s eventual retirement. And this year has shown the club a glimpse of what the future holds for them.

“We will probably have to bury the Roger fan club. There are people here who live for Roger. A world will collapse for them. But as brutal as it is: tennis existed before Roger and will continue to exist after him.”

One highlight of every Roger Federer season is his participation in the Swiss Indoors in Basel, Switzerland. He has won ten titles there and so the tournament holds great importance for Fans4Roger. But due to the pandemic, the tournament had to be canceled. This came in as a huge shock to the club which had the annual tradition of meeting all club members and cheering for Federer together at the tournament.

“It is an extreme shame – there is no other tournament where so many of us meet as in Basel. When Roger canceled it was a huge shock for us.” says Doris Löffel, a board member at the club.

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Federer is expected to make a return at 2021 Australian Open. And the club is aware that these could be one of his last seasons on the tour. The club has some of the most passionate and hardcore Federer fans and it has been a bitter experience for them seeing Federer’s records being equaled or broken by his rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Read More: “Love Tennis Because of Him” – Juventus FC Star Expresses Admiration for Roger Federer