Tennis coach and ESPN analyst Darren Cahill is “pretty sure” 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer will make a sensational return to Melbourne Park in 2022.
The 40-year-old hasn’t played on the tour since Wimbledon in July, where he was defeated by Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals.
Since then, Federer underwent more surgery on his troublesome knee, which was earlier operated on two separate occasions in 2020 and 2016.
The tennis world has been abuzz with talk around whether Federer will return to the tour after another injury setback earlier in the year, but Cahill said there’s high hopes he’ll make his return to the pinnacle of the sport at the Australian Open.
“There’s so many great stories coming into the Australian Open,” he said on Sportsday.
“Roger (Federer) is apparently playing, I know he’s doing a lot of work on the court at the moment and we’re pretty sure he’s going to come down to play the Australian Open.
“At 40 years of age, the fact that he’s even doing what he’s doing is quite remarkable. He’s trying to get 21 (major titles).
“Rafael (Nadal) is training his backside off, I’ve seen a lot of vision of him in Spain and he’s working incredibly hard going for 21.
“Then of course Novak (Djokovic) and what he tried to do in 2021 by nearly winning the Grand Slam, which hasn’t been done since 1969.
“Tennis is much bigger than one individual, I think Novak will be here but if he doesn’t come down, the event will still be a major success.
“It will be disappointing not to see him… but once the event starts, away you go and the stories develop. The tournament in 2022 will be huge not just for the players but also for the public.”
The Australian Open will begin at Melbourne Park on January 17, with other lead-up events around the country to be announced in the coming weeks.