Jannik Sinner, no time to rest, no time for that. Official announcement: the last word is not yet spoken.
No wonder fans’ hearts start beating wildly whenever he is mentioned. Roger Federer may have retired, but he will forever remain one of the pillars of world sports. An athlete of yesteryear who not only played extraordinarily well, but was also an excellent example of virtue and values.
It must have pleased everyone, then, to see him again at the Laver Cup, at which, two years ago, he said goodbye forever to the sport that had made him a celebrity. He did not, moreover, just enjoy the challenges that featured the players summoned to the World and Europe teams. The Swiss even trained, making those nostalgic for the Big Three era daydream.
And it may be true that that period will never return, but there is no denying that today’s tennis is nothing like that of the past decade. Today’s champions are deserving because they are just as talented as Federer and his former colleagues, so much so that they have already given us endless thrills. However, says Roger, it is not entirely certain that the old guard has given way to the new generation: the last word is not yet said, in that sense.
Sinner, trouble sleeping soundly: he’s still there
He talked about this and more, the multiple Slam champion, with the press as soon as he arrived in Berlin for the Laver Cup. He rattled off laugh-out-loud anecdotes, but he also talked about the future of tennis, giving his very personal interpretation of the facts.
“Novak (Djokovic, ed.) winning the Olympics and playing, let’s say, a full season, beyond the well-known Roland Garros situation has not withdrawn from tournaments because of injuries, he just chose to play less, which is normal when you get older,” Roger noted. Immediately afterwards, he broke a lance in favor of the Serb, who we know was, in his heyday, one of his most bitter enemies.
“I think he has a chance to move on,” he said again, referring to Nole, ”I’m looking forward to Australia in January, which is the next Grand Slam tournament. I think Djokovic will be one of the favorites along with Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. It will be very interesting to follow the Australian Open for that as well.” And who knows if he will be right or not.