Roger Federer returns to the ATP Tour this week with the Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati. The 20-time Grand Slam champion was on a break since his heartbreaking loss in the Wimbledon final in July and is raring to get back to competitive tennis.
The Swiss blew two consecutive championship points on serve at Wimbledon and lost after five brutal sets against world No 1 Novak Djokovic. The 38-year-old says he was ‘half broken’ after that match and needed to spend quality time with his family to get over the disappointment.
“I slept in a caravan the day after my Wimbledon final. It was a tough first few steps down the ladder from the bed. And it was a bad night’s sleep. But the kids wanted to do it so, so badly so we went,” Federer was quoted as saying by tennis.com.
“I was half broken from Wimbledon and everything. We enjoyed being home in Switzerland. The weather was so nice like it is here right now at the moment. We went to do hikes and sort of walked around and barbecued, so we had the best time.”
A major development in men’s tennis over the past week has been the reappointment of Federer and Rafael Nadal to the ATP Player Council. The Swiss says he and his great rival got on board only after confirming with each other that they’d both join the council together.
“I called Rafa up and thought, ‘what do you think? I would only do it with you.’ He said, ‘I’d only do it if you come too.’ That’s when we sent our proposal in about having us join the group again,” said Federer.