Roger Federer on Thursday announced his intention to retire from tennis next week at the end of the Laver Cup tournament in London where he will reunite with the other three members of the Big Four – Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. However, the 20-time Grand Slam winner’s long-time coach had dropped a huge bombshell ahead of the tournament, which has cast a serious doubt over his Laver Cup participation.
Federer was set to return to competitive tennis this month with Laver Cup marking his first ever on-court action since his Wimbledon ouster in 2021 in the quarterfinals. His schedule included the Laver Cup, followed by the ATP 500 in Basel next month. But the 41-year-old shocked world tennis with his retirement news amid emerging reports of Federer suffering from water in his knee.
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Speaking to Blick, Federer’s long-time coach Severin Luthi remarked that the tennis icon’s participation is not yet “definitive”, although he did reveal that “he trained hard last week and is training again this week”.
“His aim is to play something – whether it’s singles or doubles we’ll have to see, but his aim is still to play at the Laver Cup – definitely.” Luthi added. “We have 3 hours in the morning. Trained and in the afternoon another 2 hours of training. I want to do my job well there.”
Fans are waiting in anticipation for Federer’s reunion with Nadal as a doubles partner, which will happen for the first time since the inaugural Lacer Cup edition in 2017. Nadal had joined Federer in the 2019 edition as well but the Spaniard had withdrawn owing to an injury.
Meanwhile, US Open quarterfinalist Matteo Berrettini has been named as a back-up option for Team Europe. “Alternates are available to compete in place of one of their teammates if they are injured or withdraw. They are integral members of their teams and participate in all appearances and preparations,” explained the Laver Cup statement.
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