Roger Federer admitted Monday that he is nervous about his tennis. Five years removed from his last match, Federer, who won five consecutive US Open titles, is returning to Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday night, and he does not know how his game will look.
Federer, 45, said at a news conference that his last singles set came against Hubert Hurkacz at Wimbledon in 2021, his final Grand Slam match. He said he does not know how things will go, but described a combination of uncertainty and happiness at returning to a place where he accumulated so many beautiful moments.
What Federer is returning for is limited. He will play one set of singles against Andy Roddick and one set of doubles alongside John McEnroe against Roddick and Andre Agassi. When asked whether he might return to competitive tournament tennis in his mid-40s as Venus and Serena Williams have, he was emphatic. He said no several times and thanked the reporter for asking so he could clarify in case anyone thought otherwise.
The career that ended without a goodbye
Federer never had the chance to say goodbye to New York as a competitor. When he lost to Grigor Dimitrov in the 2019 quarterfinals, nobody knew it would be his last match at Flushing Meadows. He had reached the French Open semifinals and the Wimbledon final that same year before both losses, and another deep US Open run seemed entirely plausible.
After falling to Novak Djokovic in the 2020 Australian Open semifinals, he had knee surgery in February and another procedure in May. He returned to the French Open in 2021 but had to withdraw before his fourth-round match. After the loss to Hurkacz, where he appeared to be struggling badly and lost the third set 6-0, he had another knee surgery that August and understood there would be no more comebacks.
He recalled thinking that the knee cannot do it anymore and that the mind could not be patient enough to wait another couple of years and see what happens.
What Tuesday night means
Federer knows Tuesday will not be real tennis and said with some lightness that he and Roddick hopefully would be respectful enough not to drop shot each other. But he described the night as something different from the brief moments he has previously had at Ashe as a visitor.
He said he received a standing ovation when he was spotted on the big screen during a previous visit, but described Tuesday, and the week more broadly, as a genuine opportunity to say thank you and goodbye, which he thinks is important for some. He described it as a nice thing to do.
The visit to New York is a stop on his way to Newport, Rhode Island, where he will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Saturday.
His legacy at Arthur Ashe
Federer won the US Open five consecutive times between 2004 and 2008, a stretch that is among the most dominant runs in the tournament’s history. His name appearing on the draw board at Ashe, visible during his afternoon practice, drew significant notice from fans around the grounds.
Federer still looks fit and said he enjoys working out in the gym but acknowledged he goes through long stretches where he is rarely on the court. He holds 20 Grand Slam singles titles, a record he held for several years before being surpassed by Rafael Nadal and Djokovic.
Federer’s five US Open titles stand as the most by any man in the Open Era.
