However clad in a go well with and tie, moderately than conventional Wimbledon whites, the 40-year-old was attending the event’s Centre Courtroom Centenary Celebration on Sunday. Predictably, he acquired a raucous welcome from followers.

“This court docket has given me my greatest wins and my greatest losses. I hope I can come again another time,” Federer, absent from this yr’s foremost draw for the primary time since 1998 due to damage, advised the gang.

The 20-time grand slam champion, who turns 41 subsequent month, was amongst a variety of former winners who took half in a parade across the well-known enviornment.

He final performed at Wimbledon in 2021, struggling a shock defeat by Hubert Hurkacz within the quarterfinals, and has not performed competitively since that loss as he underwent one other knee operation, his third since 2020, shortly after.

“I’ve missed it right here. I knew strolling out right here final yr, it was going to be a tricky yr forward. I perhaps did not suppose it was going to take this lengthy to come back again — the knee has been tough on me,” he mentioned.

Throughout his illustrious profession, Federer has change into synonymous with Wimbledon.

He introduced his arrival as a world-class participant in 2001, knocking out the good Pete Sampras, and went on to dominate on the top of his powers, successful it eight instances.

“I have been fortunate sufficient to play plenty of matches on this court docket,” he added. “It feels awkward to be right here in a distinct kind of position. It is nice to be right here with all the opposite champions.”

The Swiss nice is plotting his comeback, confirming earlier this yr that he’ll play on the Laver Cup in September and the Swiss Indoors event in Basel, Switzerland in October.

“It has been yr no matter tennis … I am comfortable standing right here proper now,” he mentioned.

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