Roger Federer took the US Open by storm in his return to the tournament, seven years after he last played the New York event.
Much like his appearance at the Australian Open earlier this year, Federer played a practice session as well as an exhibition mach at the Grand Slam.
Federer played alongside Lorenzo Musetti, before defeating Andy Roddick in a practice set, and playing a doubles match with John McEnroe, Andre Agassi, and Roddick.
Much has been made of Federer’s level at the tournament, as he returned to the Grand Slam he won five years in a row between 2004 and 2008, and Mats Wilander has now suggested he could be competitive if he played the US Open this year..
In an interview with Eurosport ahead of the US Open, the seven-time Grand Slam champion discussed Federer’s return to the US Open in its ‘Opening Week’.
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“It was quite slow. I think Federer was maybe playing in second or third gear, and he could play in five gears,” said Wilander about his performance against Roddick on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
However, Wilander believes Federer showed enough to suggest he could still be competitive if he joined the main draw of the US Open this year.
“Roger Federer could still win a match at the US Open, maybe even two. But he would have trouble recovering from the matches. That’s the thing when you’re 45 years old, you can’t recover as well anymore. As far as his game is concerned, I say: He could win a match at the US Open. He’s still that good.”
Federer, of course, will not be playing the US Open when it kicks off and he has already confirmed that he will not be returning to the sport in a full-time capacity.
His next port of call is to head to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, for his induction in the esteemed tennis wing.
The Swiss star was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the first year he was eligible and he is set to enter at the same time at WTA icon Mary Carillo.
The induction is set to take place between the 27th and 29th August, with Federer also set to return to the hallowed grass courts in Rhode Island.
It will mark Federer’s first grass court match since he was beaten by Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter finals of Wimbledon back in 2021. The star had a momumental run on the grass, winning Wimbledon an incredible eight times in his glittering career.
