After undergoing double knee surgery in 2020 and taking time off earlier this season, Roger Federer made his return to Wimbledon, where he fell in the quarterfinals to Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets.
The eight-time champion looked disappointed following the loss, although he later said the support he received from the fans helped soften the blow.
"The standing ovation I received there this year was certainly a special one,” Federer said in an interview with GQ. “When I left the court, I could feel the crowd’s love and their support.
“Obviously, it’s always hard leaving a court after losing at Wimbledon earlier than a final… When you reach a final, there’s a trophy ceremony, there’s more to it, but when you lose earlier, well, you pack your stuff and you go and, at that point, the stage is your winning opponent’s, in my mind, not yours. So that was important for me to give that one to Hubert, obviously, as quickly as possible.”
Federer would go on to have another procedure on his knee, before announcing that he was taking the rest of the season off in order to recuperate and prepare for next year. During his hiatus, the 20-time Grand Slam champion had more time to reflect on his performance at the All England Club.
"For me personally now, you know, looking back a little bit, I’m actually very grateful, very happy I was just able to play,” added Federer. “I mean, my last year and a half, it’s been really difficult. It’s been hard with the double knee surgery I had last year and rehab was really slow.
“And, look, in some ways I wish I would have been in better shape for Wimbledon this year. But at the end of the day, I made the quarters – I played Wimbledon! Still! You can never take that sort of thing for granted.
“Remember, other guys never had a quarterfinal in their life at Wimbledon and I’ve had so many that I think I have got to have a little perspective and see that actually, overall, it was a really good tournament for me.”
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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