Roger Federer at the Swiss Indoors: Beginning of a gritty comeback or end of a glorious career?

Roger Federer treated his fans to the best possible news on Tuesday, confirming his participation at the 2022 Swiss Indoors. Not having played any competitive tennis since last year's Wimbledon quarterfinals, the ATP 500 event is the second guaranteed stop on the Swiss' calendar this year after the Laver Cup.

But as one would expect from social media, speculation is rife that the event could simply be the 20-time Grand Slam champion's farewell tournament. This is mainly due to the fact that the Swiss Indoors takes place in Basel, the former World No. 1's home tournament, where he has won the most titles (tied with the Halle Open).

For starters, there is a poll being run by The Tennis Podcast on their Twitter handle, positing the same question: "If Roger Federer plays Basel, is this the start of a comeback, or the end of a career?"

At the time of writing, the poll has almost 3,000 votes, with 22.3% declaring that it is the start of a comeback and 77.7% confident that it is the end of his career. Of course, no one other than Federer himself can say this for certain. Until then, rumors on social media will remain only that -- rumors.

Assuming Basel is the first tournament the World No. 41 will play in 2022, it will have been more than an entire year since his last competitive match. The chances of anyone, even a champion as great as Roger Federer, spending 12 months undergoing a painful rehabilitation process just to play a couple of events sounds unlikely.

Then, there is the possibility that the 40-year-old will be confirmed to play at more tournaments in the coming days. He has to start his comeback somewhere, and where better to do it than in front of his home fans?

On top of that, the Swiss will be the three-time defending champion (the 2020 and 2021 editions were wiped out because of the pandemic), giving him a much-needed psychological boost on his return to action.

Will Roger Federer gauge whether it is a comeback or farewell based on how he fares at the Swiss Indoors?

How he does at the 2022 Swiss Indoors might decide how Roger Federer's future goes

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Another popular opinion on social media is that Roger Federer will decide whether it is a comeback or farewell based solely on how he performs at the 2022 Swiss Indoors. In other words, the 20-time Grand Slam champion will gauge his fitness levels at the tournament and then decide what to do next.

It is an idea that makes the most sense, especially because it has precedent. Juan Martin del Potro returned to action at the Argentina Open earlier this year after a long break and announced his retirement after realizing that he was still in pain. Interestingly, the former US Open winner's comeback is not off the table yet either.

Andy Murray announced his retirement a few years back due to a hip injury, and then returned to action after sufficient medical treatment. But unlike the aforementioned names, the Swiss maestro's main issue will be age.

The former World No. 1 has emphasized time and again during his current break that the motivation to play is still there, and it is simply a question of getting his body in the right place.

The World No. 41 already leads the list of oldest players to have won a tournament, a Grand Slam and a Masters 1000 event since 1990.

There have been players much older than Federer who dominated the sport to a reasonable degree in previous eras, when things were much less intense and not as dependent on speed and power. But now, with the younger players faster and fitter than ever, that's unlikely to happen.

For now, though, fans should remain cautiously optimistic about their favorite's chances when he gets back to action. Because if anyone can conquer the tennis world again after crossing 40, it is probably Roger Federer.

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