Roger Federer‘s body language during last week’s second-round defeat at the Halle Open was a major cause for concern ahead of the Swiss icon’s return to Wimbledon, according to former world No 2 Alex Corretja. Federer will be looking to trouble the likes of Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas at the All England Club upon his long-awaited return to the Grand Slam circuit later this month.
However, the 39-year-old has endured a turbulent time of things since recovering from a long-term injury that kept him on the treatment table for well over a year.
He failed to impress in Qatar and Geneva before an improved French Open campaign was cut short by his premature withdrawal.
Federer explained that his decision to pull out was made with Wimbledon in mind, with the Basel native prioritising the tournament above all else this summer.
He returned to grass-court tennis in Halle earlier this month in order to try and find some momentum, but was knocked out by Felix Auger Aliassime in the second round despite taking the first set of the match.
Federer subsequently admitted that he was taken over by negativity as the contest began to slip away, with Corretja suggesting that his frustrations could have resulted from a lack of self-belief with regards to his Wimbledon prospects.
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“I was more worried about his body language a little bit,” Corretja told Eurosport.
“He was, I think, inside himself. He’s the only one who knows how he’s feeling, the way he’s moving. Sometimes it’s not about complaining.
“It’s a matter of you are playing and inside you, you feel ‘this is not how I want to feel’. And I think Roger feels a little bit that way right now.
“It’s not that his attitude was not good, it was that his attitude was showing a little bit of worry on his face. And usually you don’t see that on Roger because it seems like everything flows and everything is perfect, but now it is normal.
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“He’s showing that even if he is probably the most talented guy ever, he will suffer like someone else and it’s good that he shows that.”
Corretja’s comments were echoed by former Wimbledon champion Mats Wilander, who was taken aback by Federer’s attitude both on and off the court after his defeat in Halle.
“I’m not sure if he’s ever shown it or not,” added the 56-year-old.
“I actually saw him show it one time against Gustavo Kuerten at Roland Garros, where he looked not interested to be there and was willing to hit the grass courts.
“So I think that he’s most probably felt like that before, but for him to actually point the finger at himself? That’s alarming.
“I think what happens when you do that, the thing we never talked about, it also puts a green light in the locker room to the rest of the field.
“Like: ‘Wow, even Roger Federer doesn’t feel like fighting to the very end with a good attitude these days, so you know what Roger, you are 39, I am 21, I’m going to be out there for five hours if I have to.”
Federer has won just five matches since the turn of the year, losing three times at the hands of Nikoloz Bashilashvili, Pablo Andujar and Auger Aliassime respectively.
It remains to be seen whether he will be able to seal an unlikely triumph at Wimbledon, with long-term rival Djokovic on a run of imperious form after winning both of this year’s Grand Slams in Australia and France.
