By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday November 17, 2021

Upon hearing of the reports that Roger Federer will miss the 2022 Australian Open and could even miss Wimbledon next year, Novak Djokovic told reporters that it would be a shame if Federer doesn’t get to end his career on his own terms.



“Obviously Roger is an icon of our sport and people around the world love him,” Djokovic said. “They love watching him play, love seeing him around. He's very important for our sport on and off the court.”

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Djokovic, like so many around the world, is hoping that Federer makes a successful return to the tour at some point.

“For the sake of our sport, I sincerely hope that we can see him play at least another time,” he said. “You know, I'm sure he doesn't want to end his career this way. I think he's gonna definitely try to give it a last push, a last try. I'm not sure what his injury is, and I know he's been struggling with a knee for quite a few years. So, yeah, let's see.”

The World No.1, who has shared the court with Federer in five Grand Slam finals, and in fourteen other ATP finals, hopes that the Swiss maestro gets a proper farewell, whenever that time comes.

“You know, I think for everything that he has achieved and created for this sport, he deserves to play and he deserves to have a proper farewell, I mean, if his injury is not allowing him to play, so to say, more frequently on the tour,” he said.