"Roger Federer is the classiest & most beautiful player I have seen on a court" - John McEnroe
Tennis legend John McEnroe recently said he would love to see Roger Federer get back to the court soon. He also heaped praise on the Swiss' style of play, calling him the "most beautiful player" he has ever seen.
Recurring fitness issues have meant Federer has not played a lot since 2020. Last year the Swiss missed the Australian Open due to a knee injury, and he could only play four tournaments even after his return. Federer's most notable feat in 2021 was reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, where he lost to Hubert Hurkacz.
The 40-year-old pulled the plug on his season after that, and subsequently underwent another surgery on his troublesome knee.
In that context, John McEnroe while speaking with Eurosport claimed that everyone misses Roger Federer when he's not around. The American highlighted Federer's classy play as one of the reasons for that.
"It goes without saying that anytime we are at an event where Roger is not playing we miss him," McEnroe said. "He is the classiest player and the most beautiful player I have seen on a court. As a fan I would love to see Roger around."
McEnroe went on to talk about Federer's prospects of returning to the sport after he has recovered from the knee injury. The 62-year-old stated it would be "unbelievable" if Federer were to get back to his earlier level when he returns, but suggested that it was possible given his comeback in 2017.
"As far as the future, he's 40 years old," McEnroe said. "He’s had numerous surgeries on his knee, there’s a lot of wear and tear, it would be unbelievable if he could come back and get close to the level that he was at. I thought the same thing five years ago when I was coaching [Milos] Raonic and Roger walked off after the Wimbledon semi-finals [in 2016] and was limping and didn’t play for six months. Then he won the Australian Open."
McEnroe further claimed that Federer winning another Wimbledon would be "the most amazing of all". But he also cautioned that if the Swiss is unable to play at 100%, he might struggle the same way that Andy Murray currently is.
"He's pulled off the improbable before but this would be the most amazing of all if he was to win another Wimbledon," McEnroe said. "Whatever makes him happy is what he deserves. If he wants to play we will be happy he is playing, but I don’t want to see Roger at 80 per cent. We have seen that with [Andy] Murray and it’s not easy. You want to see the top guys play at their best."
Roger Federer's ranking will fall to 30th soon
Roger Federer is yet to play in 2022 as he is still undergoing rehabilitation for his knee injury. Having already missed the Australian Open, Federer will slip to 30th in the ATP rankings next Monday.
Roger #Federer will be No. 30 ATP next Monday for the first time since 14 January 2001.
21 years and 22 days later.
It is yet to be determined when Roger Federer will return to action. His fans are hoping to see him back on court during the clay season, but a more likely scenario would be returning just before Wimbledon.
Whether Federer can get anywhere close to the kind of form he was a few years ago is anyone's guess. For now, all that the tennis world can do is wait.