Roger Federer has another Wimbledon triumph in him, says Australian Todd Woodbridge
Roger Federer may see Wimbledon's grasscourts, where he has won eight titles and made the final in 2019, as the most realistic surface to add to his tally; Swiss also planning on playing at his fifth Olympics
Last Updated: 04/01/21 10:40am
Roger Federer has a ninth Wimbledon triumph in him, with the Swiss star prioritising the All England Club and Olympics in 2021, says Australian Todd Woodbridge.
Federer, a 20-time Grand Slam champion, confirmed fitness issues after two knee operations in 2020 mean fans will not see him in action at the Australian Open for the first time in more than two decades.
The current men's calendar would suggest the ATP 500 event in Rotterdam from March 1 could be the first stop in 2021 for the former world No 1.
Federer, who has not missed a trip to Melbourne Park since a loss in qualifying in 1999, suffered a semi-final defeat against eventual winner Novak Djokovic last year but he has not played a competitive match since.
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"His goals, I assume, would be to play at the Olympics and at Wimbledon. Wimbledon is the major that I see him being able to win at this stage of his career."
Todd Woodbridge on Federer
"A player of his stature, at some point when you're not winning, you start to wonder about why you're only making the quarter-finals, when you're used to being in the final," Woodbridge told Channel Nine this week.
"It doesn't give the same adrenaline rush as it always has, and that's when you start to think to yourself that you've got other things to do with your life."
Participating at a fifth Olympics featured prominently in Federer's agenda, and the postponement of the Tokyo Games by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic worked perfectly for the Swiss, who would otherwise have missed it due to injury.
The last of his major titles might have come on the Melbourne hardcourts in 2018, but Federer may see Wimbledon's grasscourts, where he has won eight titles and made the final in 2019, as the most realistic surface to add to his tally.
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"For Roger to continue on, he'll have to be able to manage his body when he does come back," said Woodbridge, who won 22 Grand Slam doubles titles.
"His goals, I assume, would be to play at the Olympics and at Wimbledon. Wimbledon is the major that I see him being able to win at this stage of his career."
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