Roger Federer's body has been saying no for the past two years, but Pat Cash is hopeful the 39-year-old will return for another run on the ATP Tour.
After suffering a setback to his longstanding knee injury during Wimbledon, the 20-time grand slam champion has this week withdrawn from the Tokyo Olympics.
Despite being without much match practice – playing just four tournaments before Wimbledon after coming back from two knee surgeries - Federer was able to make the quarter-finals at All England Club.
However, he suffered a demoralising loss to Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets in the last eight that promoted a fresh round of speculation over his future in the game.
Cash, who won Wimbledon in 1987, hopes Federer will be back despite his recent injury woe.
He told Stats Perform: "First of all, let's hope that Roger Federer will keep going.
"I think he can, I think he just needs more matches and probably needs to make sure that he's able to last.
"But your body starts saying no at some stage and it's been saying that for a couple of years now for him."
Wimbledon winner Novak Djokovic is now level with Rafael Nadal and Federer on 20 slams.
Cash believes judging the Swiss star purely on grand slam titles is not a fair measure of his brilliance, pointing instead to his astonishing record totals of 58 major quarter-final berths and 46 semis.
"He has been the most consistent player that I think we've ever seen," Cash said. "He may not end up with as many grand slams but his consistency is just outrageous.
"All the other players have lost early in grand slams, the Djokovics, the [Andy] Murrays, then the Nadals had lost early in grand slams, Roger just doesn't do it.
"Of all the titles that he's won, I think for me, his most impressive record is how many semi-finals or quarter-finals in grand slams in a row that he got to. It was something ridiculous for 10 or 11 years.
"He never failed at any grand slams and that is just absolutely mind blowing."
However long he tries to play on, Cash insists nothing can sour the memories of an extraordinary career from Federer.
Cash added: "Obviously, he raised the bar as far as the standard of tennis has gone.
"The other players really had to catch up. Novak admitted it, he said, 'Without Roger there, leading the way, I wouldn't have been as good a player as I could have been'.
"That's the gold standard of Roger Federer over his career and I'm not sure anybody will be as consistent as him in tennis history.
"He's just phenomenal the way he plays, and we all of course enjoy the style, his movement. And he's a class act off the court as well."
Federer's status for the US Open, which begins on August 30, is unclear, with Djokovic looking to take the outright lead for major titles and achieve a historic calendar year Grand Slam.
Swiatek races into Madrid Open final with dominant win over Keys
Iga Swiatek cruised into her second Madrid Open final on Thursday, maintaining her ominous form by beating Madison Keys 6-1 6-3 within 71 minutes.
Swiatek had been forced to fight back from a set down against Beatriz Haddad Maia in the quarter-finals, but there was no slow start on Thursday as she broke Keys' serve to love at the first attempt.
Only in the fifth game, when Keys failed to convert two break points, was Swiatek troubled in a 31-minute opener, and she carried that momentum into the second set with another early break.
Having eliminated Coco Gauff and Ons Jabeur on a deeply impressive run, Keys had no answer for Swiatek's power as she clinically worked her way through the second set, the American's forehand running long on match point to seal a routine win for the world number one.
Having lost last year's final against Aryna Sabalenka, Swiatek could face a rematch against the defending champion, who takes on Elena Rybakina in Thursday's other semi-final.
Data Debrief: Swiatek surpasses Serena
Saturday's final will be Swiatek's 11th at WTA 1000-level, the Pole going all the way on 37.9 per cent of her 29 main-draw entries at that level. That is a better ratio than 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams managed in her glittering career, the American doing so at 18 of 49 WTA 1000 tournaments (36.7 per cent).
Swiatek has now played eight matches in 2024 without dropping a single game on her own serve, a tally only matched by her possible final opponent Sabalenka on the WTA tour.
Top seed Sinner withdraws from Madrid Open ahead of quarter-finals
Jannik Sinner has withdrawn from the Madrid Open due to a hip injury ahead of his scheduled quarter-final clash with Felix Auger Aliassime.
The world number two was due to face Auger Aliassime for a place in the semi-finals after fighting back to overcome Karen Khachanov in three sets on Tuesday.
However, the Italian has been advised to withdraw to avoid aggravating an issue with his right hip, which he says has troubled him throughout the tournament.
Sinner, who is 28-2 for the season and won his first grand slam title at the Australian Open earlier this year, wrote on X: "Very sad to have to withdraw from my next match here in Madrid.
"My hip has been bothering me this week and has slowly been getting more painful. Taking the advice from the doctors, we decided it's best to not play further and make it worse."
Sinner's withdrawal means Auger Aliassime will advance to his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final since 2022, with Daniil Medvedev or Jiri Lehecka – who eliminated Rafael Nadal on Tuesday – up next for the Canadian.
On the other side of the draw, two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz suffered a surprise exit at the hands of Andrey Rublev on Wednesday, with the Russian set to face either Taylor Fritz or Francisco Cerundolo in the last four.
Alcaraz sees Madrid Open reign ended by Rublev in last eight
Carlos Alcaraz saw his hopes of a third straight Madrid Open crown dashed on Wednesday, as Andrey Rublev fought back to seal a statement quarter-final win over the defending champion.
Alcaraz had been pushed close in the last 16 by Jan-Lennard Struff on Tuesday, requiring two tie-breaks to see off the German in three sets, and those exertions seemed to take their toll as he produced a below-par display on Wednesday.
Seven unforced errors from Rublev helped the home favourite take the opener, but he appeared to tire from there as his seventh-seeded opponent fired in 27 winners in a 4-6 6-3 6-2 victory.
Rublev broke Alcaraz's serve in the first and fifth games of the decider, also serving impressively to deny the Spaniard a single break point after a nervous first hold.
Alcaraz's exit ended home interest in the tournament, just one day after five-time champion Rafael Nadal was dumped out in the last 16 by Jiri Lehecka.
Speaking to Sky Sports Tennis, Rublev said: "I can't believe that I was able to stay calm throughout the match. I didn't say a word and even I'm impressed by that!
"I want to believe that I have been working on this because if not, then I'm stupid. I just thought to myself to keep trying, keep fighting, keep believing in yourself."
Data Debrief: Major scalp for Rublev
To say Rublev entered Wednesday's match as the underdog would be an understatement. Alcaraz was looking to become the first player to win three straight Madrid Open singles titles, and was 24-0 in Spanish clay-court events since the start of 2022.
Rublev, though, was not overawed by the occasion and punished a sluggish performance from the world number three. Wednesday's win was his first over a top-three opponent since 2022, and he will now face either Taylor Fritz or Francisco Cerundolo in the last four.
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