Australian Open boss' bombshell call on Roger Federer retirement
The head of Australian tennis has excited Roger Federer fans in a recent interview after claiming he believes the 20-time Grand Slam champ will grace the courts for a few years yet.
Tennis Australia chief Craig Tiley has known Federer for quite some time considering he is a six-time champion of Melbourne Park.
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But many fans of the Swiss maestro started to doubt whether the 39-year-old would be able to return to tennis after a tough 2020.
Federer announced during the forced coronavirus break that he would be forced to sit out the remainder of the year after a re-occurring knew injury, which required follow up surgery.
Many feared the 39-year-old wouldn’t return after yet another setback.
But Tiley recently said fans shouldn’t be too worried about Federer retiring anytime soon with plans of holding a farewell in his honour.
"I've known Roger for a long time, and I think we'll have a couple more years of Roger,” he told the Wide World of Sports.
“I'll certainly use that as motivation to encourage him to keep playing until we can give him a proper send off in front of a full crowd. I don't know if it will have much impact, but I'll give it a go!"
Tiley also hinted that plenty of players were keen for a fresh start in 2021 and were eyeing off the Australian Open.
Despite planning Federer a champions farewell, one of the Swiss maestro’s idols has warned against such a move.
Edberg warns Federer of retirement tour
Stefan Edberg admitted earlier this year he’s advised Federer to avoid a retirement tour.
The former Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open champion - who won each of those grand slams twice - revealed he and Federer have spoken about how best to walk away.
“We actually talked a little bit about it and I would not recommend it to anybody actually, even if it's a nice thing to do, because it does put too much pressure on yourself and there will be too many things going on in your mind,” Swedish great Edberg told the Tennis Podcast.
“So, if you're going to announce it, I would do it just before my last tournament…or have it in my mind but not for anybody else to know.”
