Tennis getting financially stronger: Federer

ZURICH: Tennis legend Roger Federer feels it is good for the sport that players are getting financially stronger and can compete in that aspect with other disciplines.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion recently was in the top spot on the annual Forbes list of the highest-paid athletes for the first time this year with $106.3 million in pre-tax earnings.

The Swiss ace is the first tennis player to take the No. 1 rank since the list debuted in 1990, as per Forbes official website.

“Maybe it’s good for tennis that we can compete with football, boxing, Formula 1 and basketball, where the wages are incredible. But I’m rather embarrassed when it’s in the papers,” Federer was quoted as saying in an interview with Zeit.

Swiss ace Federer recently said he expects to be at 100 per cent ahead of next season considering he was able to get a long break from the game due to coronavirus pandemic. “For me, it’s been very nice to be in Switzerland for as long as I have been since the lockdown,” Federer was quoted as saying by Tennis World.

“For the last 25 years or so, I have been traveling a lot, never spending two consecutive months at home; now, we have been in Switzerland for four or five months, enjoying ourselves.

“The life quality in Switzerland is great, now we have summer and the people who spend time outside, just like we do. The last couple of months were dominated by two knee surgeries. I had to take step by step, going with the rehab and slow recovery,” he added. With recovery underway, Federer expects himself to return to full fitness before the 2021 season. Federer had earlier announced via his Twitter handle in June that he had to undergo an ‘additional arthroscopic procedure’ on his knee that will see him miss the revamped 2020 tennis calendar. IANS