Federer calls for Tokyo Olympics decision: Is it happening or not?
I would love to play in the Olympics, win a medal for Switzerland. I think what the athletes need is a decision: is it going to happen or is it not going to happen? At the moment, we have the impression that it will happen. We know it’s a fluid situation. And you can also decide as an athlete if you want to go. If you feel there’s a lot of resistance, maybe it’s better not to go. I don’t know.
Roger Federer
ROGER Federer has called on Olympics chiefs to end all uncertainty and make a final ruling on whether Tokyo 2020 can go ahead.
The Swiss great, a winner of 20 Grand Slam titles, had hoped to make a farewell Olympic Games appearance last year, only for the pandemic to mean the event was postponed for 12 months.
Both the Japanese government and the International Olympic Committee have not swayed from their stance that the Games will go ahead despite a strong swell of public support for a cancellation.
With Japan struggling to contain the COVID-19 virus, however, and Tokyo still in a formal state of emergency, there remain major doubts over whether it is realistic for thousands of international visitors to come to the country in July and August.
Federer has heard the confident voices, but he also is aware that many residents of Tokyo are against the Games happening this year.
“Honestly I don’t know what to think. I’m a bit between the two,” Federer told Swiss television station Leman Bleu.
“I would love to play in the Olympics, win a medal for Switzerland. It would make me especially proud. But if it doesn’t happen because of the situation, I would be the first to understand.
“I think what the athletes need is a decision: is it going to happen or is it not going to happen
“At the moment, we have the impression that it will happen. We know it’s a fluid situation. And you can also decide as an athlete if you want to go. If you feel there’s a lot of resistance, maybe it’s better not to go. I don’t know.”
Federer, who is returning from a long knee injury layoff, has played at four previous Olympics, winning doubles gold with Stan Wawrinka in Beijing in 2008 and silver in singles at London 2012, where Andy Murray denied him in the final at Wimbledon.
He is set to play his second comeback tournament next week at the Geneva Open, building up to a French Open appearance, with Wimbledon on the horizon.
He and wife Mirka and their family are likely to be spending several weeks apart as Federer co-operates, where required, with tournament bubbles, limiting the size of player entourages.
“It’s going to test a little the situation at home,” Federer said.
“I’ve spoken about it a lot with Mirka. Now it’s the comeback which is the priority.”
Earlier on Friday, Federer was placed into a tough section of the Gonet Geneva Open draw, ahead of his tournament debut at the ATP 250 next week.
In a loaded top quarter, the 20-time Grand Slam champion will face Australia’s Jordan Thompson or Pablo Andujar of Spain in the second round. If he can navigate his way through that match, Federer will likely face a difficult quarter-final encounter.
Federer shares the top quarter of the draw with Santiago champion Cristian Garin and former World No. 3 Marin Cilic. Fifth seed Garin will begin his title bid against Marton Fucsovics, while Cilic will meet Swiss Dominic Stephan Stricker.
Federer has also contested three tight ATP Head-2-Head encounters against Fucsovics in the past. This year’s Rotterdam runner-up pushed Federer to four sets at last year’s Australian Open and reached tie-breaks in his previous two matches against the 39-year-old.
Federer will be making just his second appearance of the year in the Swiss city and will be competing on clay for the first time since Roland Garros in 2019.
The top seed returned to the ATP Tour for the first time in 13 months at the Qatar Exxon-Mobil Open in March, where he fell to eventual champion Nikoloz Basilashvili in the quarter-finals.
Federer will be aiming to join Claudio Mezzadri (1987), Marc Rosset (1989) and Stan Wawrinka (2016-‘17) as the fourth Swiss player to lift the Geneva trophy.