Roger Federer says he hopes to play for 2 or 3 more years

Roger Federer says he hopes to play for at least another three or four years and that his "mind-set is for the long-term" in assessing his tennis future.
Federer, who has not played since re-injuring his surgically repaired left knee at Wimbledon in July, will make his tournament return in the Jan. 1-7 Hopman Cup team event at Perth, representing Switzerland with Belinda Bencic.
The 35-year-old Federer said Friday he's not sure of the form he'll produce upon his return, but that retirement isn't part of his thought process.
"Only when I get asked do I think of things like this," said Federer, who has 17 Grand Slam singles titles, the most of any male player.

"I don't see it like this, that this could be my last Australian trip, even though it might very well be," he added.
"I'm really positive. I took these six months off so I would be playing for hopefully another two to three years, not just another six months or so. So my mindset is for the long-term."

Federer hasn't won a Grand Slam singles title since Wimbledon in 2012, and with his injury, has slipped to No. 16 in the world rankings.
"Winning titles is a beautiful feeling, rankings at the moments ... Completely secondary," Federer said Friday. "As long as I'm healthy and injury free I think I can really do some damage."

Federer and Bencic begin play against Britain, represented by Heather Wilson and Dan Evans, on Monday night at Perth Arena.
Defending champions Australia, represented by Daria Gavrilova and Nick Kyrgios, begin play Sunday night against Spain.
Unusually for the Swiss, he took a medical timeout in the final as well as during his five-set semi with Stan Wawrinka. He also went five sets with Kei Nishikori in round four.
He said Sunday's 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win ranked alongside his 2009 French Open victory, which completed a career Grand Slam and ended a run of three defeats in the final.

"I think this one will take more time to sink in. When I go back to Switzerland, I'll think, 'Wow'. The magnitude of this match is going to feel different," he said.
"I can't compare this one to any other one except for maybe the French Open in '09. I waited for the French Open, I tried, I fought. I tried again and failed. Eventually I made it. This feels similar."
Fittingly it was Nadal who pushed Federer to one of the biggest achievements of his career, after his Grand Slam chances had been largely written off.
It was a redemptive win as Federer has struggled against Nadal, losing four straight major finals to the fearsome left-hander since his Wimbledon victory in 2007.

"Rafa definitely has been very particular in my career. I think he made me a better player," Federer said.
"Him and a couple more players have done the most to do that to me because the way his game stacks up with me, it's a tricky one. I've said that openly.
"It remains for me the ultimate challenge to play against him. So it's definitely very special.
"I said that also before the finals: if I were to win against Rafa, it would be super-special and very sweet because I haven't beaten him in a Grand Slam final for a long, long time now.