'Recovering' Federer brushes aside retirement talk

Seventeen-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer has dismissed speculation that he is planning to bring the curtain down on his illustrious career at the end of next season.

In July, Federer ruled himself out of the rest of the season to recover fully from his injury, which got aggravated during his semifinal defeat to Milos Raonic in Wimbledon.

However, since the Spanish maestro has turned 35, there are question marks over how longer will he continue to compete.

When asked whether 2017 would be his last season, Federer insisted that retirement is still far away before adding that he is still looking forward to compete in 2018.

"Stopping for a such long time after 20 years of tennis cannot be anything but positive. Playing in 2018? It's a year away but I clearly still hope to play," he was quoted as saying by Sport24.

"Retirement is still far away, I only hope that I will decide it and not my body," he added.

Although Federer is pleased with his recovery process, he was not ready to rush his way back into the tennis court.

"I am practicing well, we are going step by step although we could do more," said Federer, who was forced to skip the US Open for the first time since 1999 due to a knee injury.