He has eighty-eight career titles, and nearly one hundred million dollars in career prize money. But nothing takes the joy of tennis away from Roger Federer, who insists he wants to continue even beyond 2016.
It has long been known that Federer would continue into 2016, the year of his thirty-fifth birthday. The lone major title that he has yet to pick up; the Olympic Gold Medal in singles has always been the allure. Federer was a silver medallist in London 2012, when he was comfortably defeated by Andy Murray. Yet the feeling was that even if he had the gold medal, he would have been playing 2016 anyway.
Federer already has the next two seasons on his mind. “I have a very clear plan how ’16 is going to be until December,… Then ’17 is around the corner for me as well already“.
Federer consistently asserted that retirement is still a long way off. “As long as I haven’t decided what I’m going to do yet, I’ve got to keep a schedule as well which I feel like I’m playing for many more years to come,”
The Swiss master though still remains somewhat cautious, “If you get injured then it comes more slowly but the mind could all of a sudden go, pfft, that’s it. Who knows? If there’s a thing with family that is just so much more important than playing tennis“. Federer spent much of 2012 playing with a back injury, the first major injury of his long career, but has seemed relatively untroubled since.
Federer has already committed to Rotterdam in 2016. He has also kept Dubai and Basel, both places where he spends much of the off-season, in a schedule that has seen him omit some tournaments as he has aged. Both are likely to appear on the Federer schedule in 2016. Federer also played the inaugural Istanbul Open, highlighting his interest in playing brand-new events and travelling to new locations.
