LONDON —
Roger Federer said Sunday he hopes to
play Wimbledon "one more time" despite being sidelined for a year
with a knee injury.
اضافة اعلان
"I hope I can come back one more time. I've
missed it here," said the eight-time champion as he attended a special
ceremony to mark the 100th anniversary of Centre Court.
The 40-year-old winner of 20 Grand Slam titles has
been out of action since a quarter-final loss at the tournament in 2021 before
undergoing another bout of knee surgery.
He plans to return to action at the Laver Cup in
London in September and then take part in his home tournament at Basel.
"I knew walking out here last year, it was going
to be a tough year ahead," said Federer, who received a standing ovation
when he entered the court.
"I maybe didn't think it was going to take this
long to come back — the knee has been rough on me."
Federer, dressed in a dark suit, was one of a host of
Wimbledon champions at the ceremony that preceded the program of matches on
middle Sunday, established from this year as a permanent feature.
The Swiss star broke through at Wimbledon in 2001 with
his famous win over
Pete Sampras before lifting the first of his eight titles
two years later.
"I've been lucky enough to play a lot of matches
on this court," he added.
"It feels awkward to be here today in a different
type of role but great to be here with all the other champions.
"This court has given me my biggest wins and my
biggest losses."
Federer was joined at the ceremony by two men
responsible for some of those highs and lows — six-time champion Novak Djokovic
and two-time winner Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic defeated Federer in the 2019 final, the
longest ever at the tournament, which stretched over five sets and almost five hours.
"I feel more nervous now than when I'm
playing," said Djokovic, who will be back on Centre Court later Sunday for
his last-16 tie against Tim van Rijthoven.
"This court has been truly special from my
childhood and the first image of tennis I've seen, when I was four or five
years old I saw Pete Sampras wining his first Wimbledon.
"This is where dreams come true and I was blessed
in 2011, probably the highlight of my career, to win the tournament and so when
I step out on this court I relive these memories. Truly an honor."
Other past champions included Billie Jean King,
Margaret Court, Petra Kvitova, Martina Hingis, Chris Evert, and Venus Williams.
Men's winners included John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Chris
Evert, Andy Murray, and Goran Ivanisevic.
However, nine-time champion
Martina Navratilova was
unable to join the parade due to testing positive for COVID-19.
Read more Sports
Jordan News
.jpg)
.jpg)
