“Wanted to Get Off Crutches”: Roger Federer Reflects on His Post-Surgery Rehab

Comeback man Roger Federer has opened up on his tough road to fitness after his latest one-year spell on the sidelines post a second knee surgery.

In an interview with beIN Sports ahead of his much-anticipated comeback at ATP Doha, Federer said though he had to navigate a long and challenging comeback road, he enjoyed the process.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion said he doesn’t mind being in rehabilitation as he sees “the positive and bright side of it”.

Roger Federer says not having the stress of the next match was enjoyable

“Training is not so hard and you don’t go to the edge of things because the (affected) body part (knee) doesn’t allow me to do more any how,” Federer said.

The former World Number 1 added that with the pandemic raging and his knee asking for time to heal, he was happy to be home.

“After 20-plus years on the Tour, being home with the family, not having the stress of the next match was actually quite enjoyable,” the six-time Australian Open champion said.

He added that while he missed being on Tour all this time, he did follow the action at Melbourne Park and elsewhere and also used his break as an opportunity to catch up with his “Swiss friends”.

Break from tennis gave Federer an opportunity to “reshuffle” and “reorganize” things back home

Highlighting the positives from his spell in the sidelines, the champion said he was also glad to have cashed in on the chance to catch up on family time that he had lost during his many hectic years on the road.

Federer said he shunned negative thoughts and kept a positive outlook during the rehabilitation phase. He said he “wanted to get off crutches”, play tennis and go jogging again.

The 39-year-old said that while was away from tennis, he had plenty of time for his philanthropic projects and his foundation.

Federer added that he also made full use of the time to “reshuffle” and “reorganize” things back home.

The champion made himself unavailable for this year’s Australian Open, saying he wasn’t at a level of fitness to compete against top rivals.

Read More: “Hope to be 100% at Wimbledon”: Roger Federer Gives Knee Issue Update

He has listed Wimbledon, Tokyo Olympics and the US Open as his priority events on his return.