Roger Federer has played just three Major tournaments since the start of 2020, battling a knee injury and undergoing three surgeries. Last year, Roger had seven wins at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, and is yet to play a match in 2022 following his most recent operation .
Federer played his first Major matches at Roland Garros and Wimbledon 1999, going without a win and fixing it in early 2000. Roger’s first Major win came against Michael Chang at the 2000 Australian Open, securing the first of many victories on the biggest tennis stage and carving his way to tennis immortality.
Men’s tennis has seen many changes in the last two decades, but Roger has always been among the players to beat at the Majors, at least before the injuries. The Swiss reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 2001 and waited two more years to win his first major trophy at Wimbledon in 2003.
Roger had at least one Major victory between 2000 and 2021, chaining 22 seasons with that feat and leaving Jimmy Connors at 21. Andre Agassi claimed a Major victory in 20 consecutive seasons between 1987-2006, and Rafael Nadal joined him with 20 this year.
Federer broke the record at Roland Garros last year with a first-round win over Denis Istomin. Roger became the first player with 80 appearances in the Majors and defeated the Uzbek 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 33 minutes.
King Roger is a 20-time Grand Slam champion
“[Rehab’s] going slowly. I keep getting asked, ‘And what does it look like?’ and I have to say every time that it will take a little longer. I just have to be patient and keep making progress,” Roger Federer said.
“I’m going straight to the gym right now and it’s 5 or 6 times a week. I could do a lot more, but at the moment we’re focusing on fitness so that there’s no overload.” The Swiss reiterated that the main goal at the moment is to be ready for his stints at Basel and the Laver Cup, and then decide where he has to go from there.
“The goal is to be ready for the Laver Cup and Basel by the end of the year. I’ll get a lot of information in the next few months because I’m running out of space now,” Federer said. “I play with the kids from time to time. Tennis still has to wait a little bit. I’ll do enough of that when I have time.”