Roger Federer rubbishes reports about reason for playing 2020 Olympics
Roger Federer has moved to downplay the notion he’s playing at the 2020 Olympics just to achieve an elusive singles gold medal.
Federer delighted fans on Monday when he announced his intentions to play at Tokyo 2020, meaning retirement isn’t quite on the horizon just yet.
But the 20-time grand slam champion isn’t particularly happy with the idea that he’s only playing to try and snare the only prize that’s eluded him throughout his storied career.
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Instead, the 38-year-old says he wants to play at the Olympics simply because of the prestige of the global event.
“That’s what people will say: ‘That’s why he’s playing, he needs to go and get the gold to fill out his trophy cabinet’,” Federer told CNN.
“But not so much to me. I don’t want to take the pressure off myself, I can handle the pressure.
“I just want to give it the best chance I have and see if I can make another medal.
“If it is another gold great. if the house comes down it will just be too much, it will be crazy and I hope I will be ready for it.”
Federer said it’s more important to him to be able to represent Switzerland on a global stage.
“I do feel that I represent Switzerland everywhere I go, it’s always ‘Roger Federer from Switzerland’,” he said.
“I get that but I just feel at the Olympics it’s next level.
“I am very popular in my country and I know people would love to see me at the Olympics and go for a medal. They might even put me in medal contention.
“The country is the best for me and I love representing and there is no better place to do that than the Olympic Games.”
Federer’s history at the Olympics
He made his Olympic debut for Switzerland in 2000 in Sydney, where he met his wife Mirka, finishing fourth in singles.
He competed at Athens in 2004 before combining with Stan Wawrinka to win the Olympic gold medal in doubles at Beijing in 2008.
Federer finished with silver in the singles after losing to Andy Murray at Wimbledon in the final of the 2012 London Games, and he missed the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro because of injury.
“I have been thinking about it for weeks now, just trying to figure the schedule more than anything, with my four children and my wife. Figuring out the US Open, what do with the clay (Roland Garros), what to do with the grass (Wimbledon) and just how that all lines up,” he told media in Tokyo.
The 20-time major winner said he was disappointed to skip the Rio Olympics because of a knee injury that sidelined him for the rest of the year at Wimbledon in 2016.
“Every Olympic Games has been very, very special to me,” he said, adding that he figured he may as well make the announcement “while I was actually in the city where the Olympics will take place.”
“I just figured it was an organic place to do that,” he said, “so I am very happy to announce it here.”
With Associated Press