Roger Federer returns to US Open but firmly shuts the door on Serena Williams-style comeback
Tennis legend Roger Federer is returning to the US Open for exhibition matches but has firmly ruled out a return to professional competitive tennis. Despite his seven-year absence from the venue, he continues to draw significant public interest.
Why it matters
Federer's definitive retirement from competition marks the end of an era for professional tennis, clarifying his future role in the sport as an ambassador rather than a player.
To say Roger Federer is feeling nervous about playing tennis sounds almost surreal. The man won five US Open titles during the peak of his dominance, lifting the trophy in five consecutive years from 2004 to 2008. Seven years after his last appearance at the iconic Arthur Ashe Stadium, the Swiss tennis legend is set for a return to Flushing Meadows — and even he is unsure what his game will look like this time, after years away from the sport that once turned his movement and strokes into poetry in motion.“I haven’t played a singles set in, I don’t know, (Hubert) Hurkacz at Wimbledon maybe, so it’s been five years,” Federer said Monday, referring to his 2021 quarter-final loss at Wimbledon, the final Grand Slam match of his career. “I don’t know how it’s going to go tomorrow.
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