While the 2022 tennis season is underway as usual, Roger Federer is not part of it and likely won’t be.
The Swiss veteran hasn’t played in a year, with his last competitive match coming at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships, where he was beaten by Hubert Hurkacz in a stunning upset.
Since then, he’s been working hard to try and find himself back on the courts, but it hasn’t really worked out. After Wimbledon, his name will officially disappear from the ATP Rankings as his last points drop off.
Not seeing Federer’s name in the list of players might be the first confirmation that his career is coming to an end. He hasn’t officially retired yet or let it be known that he will retire anytime soon, but former player John McEnroe has a feeling that it might be coming to an end.
Speaking about Federer and what might be in store for him in the future to Italian publication Napolista, McEnroe admitted that he could see Federer retire this year at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
"He said he will play in Basel. I have a feeling, but I might be wrong, that he will say goodbye to his house. Unless he’s feeling great, and then maybe he’ll try Australia and then who the hell knows, he’ll turn the clock back. We will see what will make him happy."
It’s not an interesting hypothesis, but McEnroe certainly isn’t the only one who thinks this way. However, there are also those who still await a victorious comeback from the Swiss Maestro.
For example, Alexander Zverev's brother, Mischa Zverev, recently talked about Federer's comeback, saying he wished for him to return to the tennis courts one more time. When will that happen remains to be seen, but Federer is not competing on the ATP Tour at the moment.