"More often than not you can navigate through the pain" - Roger Federer on playing with injuries

Roger Federer believes it is important for every athlete to listen to their body and to know when to stop while playing with an injury.

The 39-year-old Federer, who was speaking on a podcast interview with Courts Mag, underwent two knee surgeries this year - one in February and one in June. He is slated to return to the tour in January, presumably at the Australian Open.

This is the second time in the last five years that Roger Federer will be returning after a lengthy layoff. In 2017 he returned from a six-month break, also due to a knee injury, and won his first event back - the Australian Open.

"Important as an athlete to listen to your body and the signs of the body," Roger Federer said. "As long as you know that the injury cannot get worse or much worse, it's worth playing I believe. If you know that you can literally snap a tendon or break something by playing, that’s gonna damage the future of career you got really weigh that in."

Having been at the top of the game for over two decades, Roger Federer has played a number of matches carrying some sort of injury or ache. When injured, the Swiss adopts a mindset that his opponent would in all probability also be carrying some niggle.

"More often than not I always believe that you can navigate through the pain and through the injury and I always tell myself that if I am not feeling well maybe the other guy is also carrying something, who knows! Maybe it starts raining or maybe you get lucky and win the match and maybe the next day you feel better. But most importantly it is that you should understand how severe your pain or injury is," Federer added.

You have to give the extra effort to recreate the energy, it doesn’t come naturally anymore: Roger Federer

Roger Federer at the 2018 US Open

Some believe that Roger Federer will find it difficult to win seven best-of-five set matches at a Grand Slam when he is back next year, given his age and the time that he has been away from the court. During the interview, Federer spoke about the challenges of coming back from a five-set match, which he admitted gets tougher with age.

"I don’t think you can always put a finger on it and say it's the arm or the shoulder or the back or whatever it may be," Federer said. "Every body has a sort of a problem, that pops up after, for some it's the back, some the shoulder."

"I think it's the overall energy that stems down just a little bit and that explosiveness maybe, that peak point-to-point mentality and sharpness that you have may have been shave off a little bit after a five-setter," he added. "You have to give the extra effort to recreate the energy, it doesn’t come naturally anymore maybe."

The Swiss also asserted that you need to be cautious while playing with an injury, especially at the Grand Slams, as it tends to get worse over successive matches.

"The problem is when you are playing five sets and are already carrying an injury, it will probably increase as the tournament goes on," Roger Federer continued. "That's why people do say, you cannot win a Slam in the first week but can definitely lose it."