Fitness

Roger Federer, until 2015 had possibly the most injury-free career that you will expect any sportsman to have. However, injuries and surgeries since 2016 have hampered a great job of the Swiss Maestro. Despite all the injuries that he has had, he still is in incredible shape at 39 years of age and still wants it. His fitness coach Pierre calls him the youngest 38-year-old that he has ever seen. For Federer to keep giving himself chances, he must not have any setbacks regarding injuries. 

The time is not on his side. His generation of players has already retired long ago. They have even turned into coaches managing the players Federer is now playing against. Therefore, he must give himself chances by working on his fitness. He doesn't have the body structure of Rafael Nadal, Zee, who puts too much pressure on his body in the matches. He has always been an elegant player with incredible finesse. Therefore, he must keep that style of play going and work upon his fitness.

Consistency

Roger Federer is probably the most consistent player of all time. He has numerous records which speak volumes about his consistency. He has reached 36 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals, 23 successive Grand Slam semifinals, and ten straight Grand Slam finals. All are records. 

This shows that even if he is not in the best form going into a Grand Slam, he keeps getting into the second week to give himself chances to go all the way. Even in his most recent Grand Slam final in Australian Open 2020, he was having issues regarding his leg, which hampered his speed and movement. However, he still went out there and fought like the champion we know him and reached the semifinals before succumbing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

This shows that Federer keeps giving himself chances in every major he plays. He is not like Rafael Nadal, who relies on a singular major. He has had great tournaments previously in which he was not in the best of form. He reached his lone Grand Slam final on his least successful surface i.e., clay in 2011. For Federer to win number 21, he must keep giving himself chances in every major he plays. There may a come point where his biggest rivals in Djokovic and Nadal won't be on the other side of the net. When that happens, he must take advantage of the situation and win those titles.

Has done it before

He has done it before, hasn't he? Remember the starting of 2017? Federer was ranked world #17 going into the Australian Open 2017. He had not won a major or beat his two big rivals in Djokovic and Nadal in a major for five years. He came back, and he did it again. He won the Australian Open and followed it up with an 8th Wimbledon title. The next year, he defended the Australian Open, which was pivotal in becoming world #1 again. He was 36 at that time. 

Can he do it again at 39? Who knows. We all know that Roger Federer is probably the most dangerous player in the world when there is no pressure on him to deliver. So we may see another massive fortnight coming for the Swiss Maestro in Melbourne.

Many people have been hanging the question of retirement on Roger since 2008, when he lost to Nadal at Wimbledon. Like a champion, Federer always has brushed aside those rumors and kept on being competitive. Now with surgeries into his career, which seems synonymous for so long, the possibility of delivering title number 21 can be severe. However, for Roger Federer, anything is possible. So we can still be optimistic about him going into Australian Open 2021. Fingers crossed for the Swiss.