Exclusive: Greg Rusedski gives his verdict on what comes next for Roger Federer

Tennis Features
Roger Federer celebrates

As Roger Federer moves into the semi-finals of the ATP Finals and gives his backing to the ATP Cup, Kevin Palmer talks exclusively to Sky Sports’ Greg Rusedski about what the future holds for the Swiss legend.

Greg Rusedski believes Roger Federer is capable of adding to record breaking haul of 20 Grand Slam titles, as he insisted the 37-year-old Swiss legend is still a competitive force at the top of the game despite some indifferent performances in the second half of 2018.

Speaking exclusively to tennis365.com at the ATP World Tour finals in London, Sky Sports pundit Rusedski suggested Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will go down in history as the three greatest players in the game’s history when it comes to record breaking feats and for that reason alone, he suggests all three can continue to have a hold of the game for some time to come despite the rise of a youthful crop of talented young players.

“Never write off the greats and when you are talking about Roger Federer, you are truly talking about a great,” states former world No.4 Rusedski.

“Who would have said when he was struggling in 2015 that he would have come back and won three Slams after that? We all wrote him off at that point, but look what he did.

“Now everyone is looking at him again and questioning whether he is one the wane after some recent performances, but let’s take his 2018 season as a whole; he has won the Australian Open and he is No.3 in the world. For most people that would be a career year, but we expect so much from Federer. Never discount Roger.”

When asked how long he expects Federer to continue his record breaking career, Rusedski suggested the sporting giant who has been the biggest name in tennis for almost two decades could continue to shine at the highest level for some time yet.

“The only one who can answer that question of retirement is Roger,” added Rusedski. “He is smart in the way he puts his schedule together, he has just signed a new long-term contact with Uniqlo and you should never discount what these ‘Big Three’ have done and what they could do. We are talking here about three of the best tennis players of all-time.

“If Roger says he is still going to be around by the time the ATP Cup is staged for the first time in January 2020, then we should not doubt him. To have him playing in our sport is great and we want him here for as long as possible.

“Us mere mortals cannot fathom what these three legends have done in the game. They will probably go down as the greatest players of all-time statistically and their legend have been established for a long time now. The longer they can play, the better it is for our game.”

Sky Sports are covering the Nitto ATP World Tour finals at the 02 Arena in London.

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