When 2020 arrives, the tennis season will begin once again, with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic battling for the top spot. However, there will be another element added to the equation, namely the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Admittedly, winning an Olympic medal is quite prestigious in itself, and a huge honor for an athlete to represent their country.
Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are the only ones among the Big 3 to not win Olympic gold in singles tennis. Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal clinched gold in 2008, with Andy Murray taking consecutive golds in 2012 and 2016. So the pressure is on Federer to finally get the monkey off his back, but he will face stiff competition from Djokovic, who is also looking for a maiden gold.
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In addition to that, Rafael Nadal is on the hunt for his second gold medal, not to mention the countless younger stars who are gunning for national glory.
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Ahead of the Hangzhou exhibition event, Roger Federer realized that 2020 may be his last chance for a gold medal and he is willing to go all guns blazing. He said, “I need to train hard for this. Obviously (winning gold) is my goal to participate in the Olympics. I want to grasp this opportunity. It feels great winning any championship but this (Olympics) is different.”
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Currently, Federer will see out the 2019 season with the exhibition in Hangzhou, along with Alexander Zverev and the Bryan Brothers. Federer has also committed himself to the Chinese event, courtesy a 5-year deal, which will run until 2023. For him, the idea is to feature in more exhibition tournaments in order to raise money for charity work.
Once he finishes that event, one can be sure that he will start the new year with a bang and try and win back his number 1 spot from Rafael Nadal.