Was that Roger Federer’s final Australian Open?
Roger Federer has revealed that he believed he only had a “three per cent chance” of winning the Australian Open semi-final against Novak Djokovic after suffering from an injury.
The Swiss legend started off strong before falling to a 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 6-3 loss to Djokovic, who reached a record eighth final in Melbourne on Thursday.
Battling a groin injury during an unbelievable quarter-final win over Tennys Sandgren, Federer requested for a medical timeout after the first set of his loss to Djokovic.
The 20-time grand slam champion admitted he felt his chances of winning against Djokovic, who has won 27 of their 50 meetings, were slim.
“Look, overall, at the end of the day I guess I’m very happy. I’ve got to be happy with what I achieved,” Federer said at the post-match press conference.
“It was the maximum to go to get at this tournament, especially after the [John] Millman and the Sandgren match.
“Today was horrible, to go through what I did. Nice entrance, nice send off, and in between is one to forget because you know you have a three per cent chance to win. You know, got to go for it. You never know.
"Of course, I hope to be back."
That's what we like to hear @rogerfederer 😁#AO2020 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/6lnHPelgAe— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 30, 2020
“But once you can see it coming, that it’s not going to work anymore, it’s tough. No, look, at the end of the day I’m very happy.
“I think I overall played all right. I know I can play better. At the same time, I also know I can play much worse. With no tournaments beforehand, I think it’s a very, very good result.”
Federer was optimistic about the injury, saying he hopes to play in a scheduled exhibition match against Rafael Nadal in South Africa on February 7.
Have won six-times in Melbourne, the 38-year-old said he could not guarantee if he was be back the Australian Open, but he was hopeful.
“No idea. Same as last year. You never know what the future holds,” he said.
“But especially my age, you don’t know. I’m confident. I’m happy how I’m feeling, to be honest. I got through a good, nice training block. No plans to retire.
“From that standpoint, we’ll see how the year goes, how everything is with the family. We’ll go from there. Of course, I hope to be back.”