“I Thought I Was Going to Make It”- Roger Federer Opens Up on Injury Issues

The 2020 Australian Open is over for Roger Federer after his semi final loss to Novak Djokovic. The defending champion defeated Federer 7-6(1), 6-4, 6-3 in a straight sets victory. The Swiss star opened up on his injury scare after the match.

Federer’s fans were left concerned after his match against Tennys Sandgren, where he visibly struggled for a majority of the match duration. These concerns were further fueled by the fact that Roger skipped practice the day after. Many were expecting Federer to walk away from the semi final match against Novak. However, Federer did not back out, but was ultimately outclassed by the Serbian.

Roger Federer Confirms Injury Was Not a Big Issue

The post-match interview has brought to light what happened behind the scenes, after the Sandgren match. The Swiss superstar has confirmed that he went in for a scan the same night he defeated Sandgren. The scan did not put up any red flags in regards to a serious injury.

“Well, I thought I was going to make it, to be honest. I went for a scan that same night (Sandgren match night), was all right. After that, well, we didn’t push it. I didn’t practice. I took a day off the next day.”

Federer sparked concerns when news broke that he had not practiced at all on Wednesday. But the concerns were put to bed when Roger practiced in an indoor court before his match against Djokovic.

“Today I just really rested until as late as possible. But I didn’t have any pain in the daily stuff. That was a positive sign.”

Roger Federer was also adamant that he would not have played, if he did not feel he could win.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion started the match in brilliant fashion as he rushed to a 4-1 lead. It was Djokovic who looked off-pace rather than the Swiss, in the beginning. A combination of Djokovic lifting his game and Federer’s quality dropping off resulted in the turn-around. The Serbian would then go on to mount a comeback and take the set 7-6 (7-1). After that there was no turning back as the Serb raced through the next two sets to win the match in straight sets.

Novak Djokovic will face Dominic Thiem or Alexander Zverev on Sunday in a bid to lift a record 8th Australian Open title.