Never going to say it's over for Roger Federer because his fans keep reminding me of 2017: Patrick McEnroe

Tennis analyst Patrick McEnroe believes Roger Federer will find the going tough when he comes back to the circuit in 2021, but that it's impossible to write him off because of what he achieved four years ago. The American, a former French Open doubles champion, also claimed Federer would never come back unless he was confident of being able to compete with the top players.

Roger Federer will turn 40 years old next August, and hasn't played competitive tennis since the Australian Open in January. The Swiss legend underwent a surgery on his right knee in February, and a second surgery in June, which meant he had to rule himself out of the rest of the 2020 season.

While speaking on his podcast, Patrick McEnroe pointed out how Roger Federer proved everyone wrong in 2017 - when he bounced back from a knee injury to win two Slams. But the 54-year-old cautioned that Federer's age, coupled with the fact that Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are still in their element, will present new challenges.

"I said that four or five years ago (that his decline had begun) before Roger Federer came back off the knee injury and won the Australian Open in what was one of the great performances of his career," McEnroe said. "Winning a few five-setters and coming from a break down in the fifth against Nadal to win it and then he went on to win Wimbledon."

"I'm never going to say it's over for Federer again because the Federer fans like to keep reminding me of that," McEnroe added. "But it certainly seems like it's gonna be more and more difficult. Especially when you look at where Novak Djokvoic and Rafael Nadal are, which is still at the top."

Roger Federer is not going come back unless he thinks he can win against the top guys: Patrick McEnroe

Roger Federer

Patrick McEnroe also suggested that the progress made by the likes of Dominic Thiem and Daniil Medvedev over the past year will make them tougher opponents for Roger Federer when he returns.

During the time Federer has been away from the court, Dominic Thiem won his first Major title at the US Open and Daniil Medvedev picked up the biggest title of his career at the Nitto ATP Finals in London.

"Since Roger's been out, which was basically the end of the Australian Open this year, you have had Medvedev who has become more solid at the top, had a great year last year, finished strong this year winning in Paris and the Year End Championships in London," McEnroe continued.

"You had Dominic Thiem go up a notch or two by winning his first Major at the US Open, finishing the year pretty strong and a good performance to reach the final in London."

But McEnroe added that the competitor in Roger Federer would not have attempted to make a comeback unless he believed he could still hang with the top players.

"These guys are just a year more seasoned so I don't think that they are gonna be easier to beat for Federer which is not to say he can't do it," McEnroe went on. "So I think it's gonna be difficult for Roger but that being said he's Roger Federer. I'm pretty sure that he's not gonna come back and even attempt to play unless he thinks he can be competitive and play in some of those big matches again."