Prior to the US Open, many people were concerned that Roger Federer was not physically ready to participate in the last grand slam of the year.
The Swiss maestro, who has had a truly remarkable 2017, suffered a back injury prior to the tournament. It troubled him so much that he had to retire from the Cincinnati Masters as result of it.
Even during the early matches in this year’s US Open, Federer looked in some discomfort as he laboured to his victories.
Far being looking like the smooth machine that sailed through Wimbledon earlier this year, Federer seemed to be on the verge of retiring from the US Open.
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Needless to say, when Federer took a medical time-out after going two sets up against Philipp Kohlschreiber, the watching audience held their breaths as they did not want to see the legendary Swiss retire.
But now Federer has revealed that the time-out was to prevent a far more embarrassing situation!
“I just needed a bit of a rub on my bottom.” Federer said while laughing out loud.
“I didn’t want to do it on court. ”
“I wanted to get it done as quick as possible, so Philipp wouldn’t have to wait.”
“I just felt like I didn’t drop my serve so that was a first in this tournament and to do that throughout the match is a great feeling. ”
“It’s been a great match for me today against Philipp as he can be very tough, but I protected my serve well and that helped me a lot today.”
Phew!
