Roger Federer has fuelled excitement among fellow professionals and tennis fans after sharing an encouraging update on his fitness as he continues his rehab from knee surgery. The Swiss tennis star has not played since he was beaten in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon last July.
The recovery from his second knee surgery since 2020 has been a slow process, but after posting snaps to Instagram of him putting significant pressure on his knee during a gym workout, his progress finally appears to be picking up pace. He was seen doing the ladder exercise which is useful for speed and footwork, and the Bulgarian split squat as he put his surgically repaired knee to the test.
“Rehab is rockinggggggg”, the 40-year-old wrote on social media as he gears up for a return to action. And his peers were delighted with his latest update, with Fabio Fognini among his fellow pros to take to the comments, writing : “Daiiii Rogeeerrrr… come back sooonnn @rogerfederer.”
His compatriot Belinda Bencic, Denis Shapovalov, Diego Schwartzman and Andreas Seppi were also among those to slide into the comments section. Last month Federer uploaded a short clip of hitting the tennis ball and also provided an update to SRF TV in March, stressing he will still need a significant amount of time before he returns to the court in an official capacity.
"It's fine. Much better, obviously I was on crutches for two months so you have to start from the bottom," he began. "It was certainly the right thing to do, the knee wasn't right after Wimbledon (last year), so it couldn't go on.
"It will certainly be a while. The end of the summer, early autumn, where I’m aiming for a comeback. Currently I’m in three parts. First the whole rehab, getting back on your feet at the beginning. Then afterwards, learning to walk and building up the whole thing."
"It's only now where I'm at the phase where I can start thinking about my comeback. I had a very good MRI a few weeks ago, which makes me feel very positive."
The Swiss star also admitted he is hoping to return to action at the end of summer or early autumn. This could see him potentially return at the US Open - a tournament he won five years on the trot - which kicks off at the end of August.
He is also fighting to be fit for this year's Laver Cup, with Team Europe set to battle Team World at London’s O2 Arena, which will take place over the weekend of September 23-25.
