NEW YORK.- The former tennis star Roger Federer said Monday that he is looking forward to this week’s holiday return to Arthur Ashe Stadium to play for the first time since his last US Open in 2019.
The exhibition on Tuesday night, as part of the “amateur week” prior to the start of the tournament, will reunite the Swiss with some of his old rivals and other tennis legends, including Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi and John McEnroe.
Together, the four have accumulated twelve US Open men’s singles titles.
“It really gives me a real opportunity to say thank you,” Federer said during a press conference on Monday, in which he also talked about the exhibition match and his upcoming addition to the team. International Tennis Hall of Fame, scheduled for the end of this week in Newport.
New York fans never had a formal farewell to the winner of 20 championships. grand slamas happened with figures like Agassi or Serena Williams.
When Federer fell to the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov In the quarterfinals of the 2019 US Open, his intention was to continue competing at the highest level. However, injuries prevented him from returning to the tournament in 2020 and 2021, before ending his career in the Laver Cup September 2022.
Although he has participated in some exhibitions since his retirement, he explained that only this year did the circumstances align to play again in New York before the ceremony Newport.
“The kids are growing up,” she said of her four children, two sets of twins who are now 12 and 17 years old. “So maybe they can enjoy a little bit of watching their dad play, too.”
Federer expects a “respectful” match, with a moderate level of competitiveness and focused more on celebration than on the result.
“We’re not going to play best-of-five,” he said. “I hope it’s a lot of fun for us and a lot of fun for the fans too, so they can see us out there playing again.”
“I’m just a fan”
The former world number one also took the opportunity to rule out any possibility of returning to the professional circuit. When journalists insisted on a possible special invitation to compete in the US Open, he repeatedly responded no.
“There are just too many obstacles and I’m too busy,” he said. “All good, I’m just a fan now, I just enjoy watching.”
