Roger Federer’s longtime coach Severin Luthi is confident of a 2021 comeback after the Swiss icon missed most of this season due to a pair of medical knee procedures.

The national Davis Cup captain told Smash magazine of his optimism for the 20-time Grand Slam winner who turns 39 on August 8.

"I don’t think he will retire in 2021, he still enjoys life on the circuit,” Luthi, with Federer since 2007, said.

"I’ve never heard him say that he has to stop because he wants to change his life or that he is tired of traveling.

"(No possibility) can be 100 per cent excluded, but since he still enjoys tennis and shares time with the friends he has everywhere, I don’t think he will retire in 2021.”

Luthi’s dream scenario would be a repeat of 2017, when Federer captured Australian Open and Wimbledon trophies after skipping the second half of 2016 due to knee worries.

"It’s true, there are parallels with 2016,’ Luthi said of the ATP No. 4. "Perhaps he can use that to his advantage. 

"The truth is that this injury arrived at the best possible moment,” Luthi said in reference to the five-month tennis shutdown due to end in August which has halted the sport in its tracks due to COVID-19.

Main photo:- Severin Luthi practice session with Roger Federer

Written by Bill Scott for grandslamtennis.online