Roger Federer says he hopes to return to Wimbledon 'one more time'

Federer and his great gesture of support for Ukraine 0:45

(CNN) --

As he has done so many times, Roger Federer walked onto Center Court at Wimbledon.

But dressed in a suit and tie, instead of the traditional Wimbledon white clothes, the 40-year-old tennis player attended the centennial celebration of the center court of the tournament on Sunday.

As expected, he received a thunderous welcome from the fans.

"This court has given me my biggest wins and my biggest losses. I hope I can come back one more time," said Federer, absent from this year's main draw for the first time since 1998 because of injury.

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The 20-time Grand Slam champion, who turns 41 next month, was one of the former winners who took part in a parade around the famous stadium.

The last time he played at Wimbledon was in 2021, suffering a shock loss to Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals, and he hasn't played competitively since that loss as he underwent another knee operation, his third since 2020, shortly after. after.

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"I've missed him here. I knew coming out here last year, it was going to be a tough year ahead of me. Maybe I didn't think it would take so long to come back... the knee has been tough on me," he said. .

During his illustrious career, Roger Federer has become synonymous with Wimbledon.

He announced his arrival as a world-class player in 2001, knocking out the great Pete Sampras, and went on to dominate at the height of his power, winning it eight times.

"I have been lucky enough to play many games on this track," he added.

"It feels awkward to be here in a different kind of role. It's great to be here with all the other champions."

The Swiss great is planning his comeback, confirming earlier this year that he will play at the Laver Cup in September and the Swiss Indoors tournament in Basel, Switzerland, in October.

"It's been a good year outside of tennis... I'm happy to be here right now," he said.

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