Federer receives standing ovation at Wimbledon court

Still rehabbing after knee surgery, Roger Federer aspired to come back to Wimbledon one more time before retirement.

The celebration event of the 100th anniversary of Centre Court was held on Sunday at All England Lawn Tennis Club with the Wimbledon 2022 open. A total of 26 Wimbledon singles champions were introduced to the audiences starting from Rodney Laver who grabbed the first Wimbledon men's singles crown since 1968 when the four major competitions opened the door to professional tennis players.

Around 15,000 spectators gave Federer a standing ovation. Novak Djokovic, who was introduced right before Federer, also joined to greet his peer with a smile on his face. He whispered to Federer who stood next to him in greeting.

Federer underwent a series of knee surgery following the quarterfinals of last year's Wimbledon. Given that he is already in his 40s, many expected that he may be taking the path to retirement. However, he said on the court, “I’ve been lucky enough to play a lot of matches on this court. This court has given me my biggest wins, my biggest losses,” hoping that he could “come back one more time.”

Federer recalled some of the most unforgettable memories on Centre Court such as his winning of the octo-final match against Pete Sampras who was then the top-ranked defending champion in 2001 and his first Wimbledon title in 2003. Missing the court, he was reminded of last year when he was not sure if he could come back this year but confessed that he had no idea that it took so long to return. This year, it is his first time not to be part of Wimbledon since he joined Wimbledon for the first time in 1999.

Unlike all the previous appearances that he made in tennis whites according to Wimbledon's tradition, he chose a dark suit but did not forget to wear his white tennis shoes.


Bo-Mi Im bom@donga.com