Ageless! There seems to be no better word to describe 36-year-old Roger Federer, who has been on a Grand Slam-winning spree since January 2017.
Between 2013 and 2016, Federer had struggled to win even one Grand Slam title and was even written off by many. Nonetheless, the Swiss ace rallied against odds and won the Australian Open last year. He proved the win in Melbourne was not a flash in the pan when he won a record eighth Wimbledon title in July.
Cut to January 2018, even as his younger counterparts Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray were going through injury issues, Federer finished on the top step of the podium in Melbourne once again and thereby successfully defended his Australian Open title.
?20. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/WqUiSo3fd5
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) January 28, 2018
As it turns out, Federer is not done yet and is hungrier for more. The 20-time Grand Slam champion is not ruling out the possibility of him representing his country at the Tokyo Olympics, which is 28 months from now.
Notably, a singles Gold at the Olympics has been eluding Federer. The legendary tennis player came close to winning one at the 2012 London Olympics but lost to local favorite Andy Murray in the men's singles final. He missed the Rio Olympic campaign in 2016 with a knee injury.
"It is not like with Rio [in 2016], where it was really something I set myself as a goal. If I am still playing, great. But I'm not saying I have to play one more [Olympics] before I retire. If it happens, then it makes sense for me to go play, but it's too far away. I don't know what happens then. We'll see if it works and makes sense," Federer told The Guardian on the sidelines of his ATP 500 tournament campaign in Rotterdam.
He added: "I haven't put it on the table. It's not a discussion point, let's put it that way. When the time is right, I'll talk about it – and see how I feel in that year. When is it? 2020? It's so far away. There's no point to discuss it. Why not – it would be nice ... but I can't tell you for sure, or not for sure."
Federer on 2018 clay-court season
Federer is bidding to dethrone Rafael Nadal from the top of ATP Rankings and become the oldest world number one in the history of the sport. He needs to reach at least the semi-final in Rotterdam to go past his arch-rival, who now has 155 ranking points more than him.
Meanwhile, Federer also said he has set sights on defending the Sunshine Double titles and that he will take a call on his clay-court plans after the Masters 1000 tournaments in Miami and Indian Wells.
"I guess by being here [Rotterdam] now, and maybe being in Dubai, it's just going to have to be lighter if I play the clay-court season. Or not at all. So I just have to get into this situation a little bit, because the priority is for me to try to defend my sunshine double in Indian Wells and Miami," Federer said.
"So, then we'll see what happens with the clay, what happens next."
