Why isn’t Roger Federer playing in Wimbledon 2022? When will he come back?
Roger Federer was one of the notable absentees from Friday’s main draw. It will be the first time in 24 years that he has missed the Championships.
Friday’s main draw for Wimbledon 2022 threw up several interesting First Round ties in the Men’s and Women’s Singles competition with defending champion Novak Djokovic drawn against Soonwoo Kwon (ranked 71st) and Simona Halep’s clash with last year’s finalist Karolína Muchová. But there were some notable absentees - Ashleigh Barty, who lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish for the first time last year, has since retired while Roger Federer was absent from the main draw for the first time since 1998.
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Wimbledon 2021, Federer’s last competitive match
Federer has not played a competitive match since his shock 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-0 defeat to 14th seed Hubert Hurkacz in last year’s quarter final at the All England Club. In August 2021, just days after his 40th birthday, he announced that he would be undergoing another operation on his right knee - his third trip to the operating table in 18 months after undergoing arthroscopic right procedures in February and May 2020.
Surgery left Federer sidelined and using crutches for several months and ruled out of the US Open and the Tokyo Olympics.
Federer’s plans for 2022
But as promisied, he is set to return this year. Federer has confirmed that he will be taking part in just two tournaments in 2022. He will be joining up with Rafa Nadal to represent Team Europe at the fifth edition of the Laver Cup which will be held at the O2 in London from Friday 23 to Sunday 25 September 2022. Team Europe will contest the trophy with Team World, who already have Felix Auger-Aliassime, Taylor Fritz and Diego Schwartzman confirmed to take part.
A month later, Federer will be back out on court for his second appearance of 2022 - this time in front of a home crowd. He is down to play at Swiss Indoors Basel 2022 which will take place from 22-30 October at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland.
So no Wimbledon this year for Federer, the player to have won the most titles: eight (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2017) but he can relax in the knowledge that his record will remain intact for the time being - Djokovic, his closest rival still in activity, is behind him with six.