Every sport has that one star who earns a bigger stature than the sport itself. The sport makes an individual but sometimes, due to outstanding performances, the sport starts revolving around an individual. If in basketball, it is Michael Jordan, in football, it is Lionel Messi. If we talk about tennis, it has to be Roger Federer.

Not seeing the 20-time Grand Slam winner on the court for almost 7 months is both a reason for distress and anguish for fans. The 39-year-old has undergone 2 knee surgeries in the period. The legend hopes to prepare for his comeback in October.

Severin Luthi, the coach of Federer, recently gave an interview. In that, he was asked about some reports claiming that Federer was planning for a quiet retreat. There were questions about whether he knew about the veracity of these claims.

“I haven’t heard anything about that yet.”-replied Luthi. (translated by Google Translate)

Read more: Roger Federer on the road to recovery as he returns to tennis afters second knee surgery.

Physical fitness is the basis for playing tennis, claims Roger Federer’s coach

“The resignation was never a serious issue. But as I said: Roger wants to take his time. We agreed from the start not to let ourselves be stressed,”-added Luthi.

“We have set up a provisional schedule. But it was also clear: We will not stubbornly hold on to this. If Roger needs a few more weeks to set up, he’ll take it. Physical fitness is the basis for playing tennis successfully,”-summed up the coach.

For legends like Federer, age is just a number. However, it is an essential parameter when it comes to physical fitness- a thing Luthi rightly pointed out.

One simply can’t expect a 39-year-old to play with the same energy and stamina in front of a 23-year-old. Yet, fans expect the same because he is Roger Federer.  The question of retirement is something that should be left to him. On his day, he could still knock out anyone single-handedly.