Roger Federer may have missed out on a comeback at the Australian Open, but the 20-time Grand Slam champion is working hard to celebrate ‘great victories’ on tennis’ grandest stages once again.
The 39-year-old will make his comeback at the Qatar Open in Doha, scheduled for a March 8 start.
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Federer has not played since the 2020 Australian Open as he underwent two knee surgeries. Though he had earlier said that he would be making his comeback at the Melbourne major, he didn’t feel he was fit enough to compete at the big stage.
Excited for what’s to come🔥#thisistennis @atptour pic.twitter.com/vFEfJVRjxj
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) December 11, 2020
“I’ve been thinking about when and where to come back for a long time. Australia was a touch too early because of my knee. That hurts,” Federer said in an interview with SRF.
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“It’s one of the places where I love to play the most.”
“I wanted to make my comeback at a smaller tournament so that I wasn’t fully in focus and where the stress is also a little less,” he said about his decision to return to the Tour in Doha.
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Even though Federer is still a shoo-in for the second week of majors, he hasn’t won a Slam since 2017 Australian Open. Federer suffered a heartbreaking loss in the 2019 Wimbledon final, when he lost to Novak Djokovic in five sets despite holding two match points.
No one is quite sure whether Federer can stage a comeback after the two surgeries, in his 40th year. But the man himself is confident he has a few more glory days to go.
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“In the last few months I have given a lot in rehab, in the conditioning area. I had to go through it, but I always enjoyed it,” he said.
“I want to celebrate great victories again. And for that I am ready to go the long, hard road.”
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Federer revealed that he will play on clay again, but this year his priorities will be Wimbledon and the Olympics.
Federer has won 103 ATP titles and spent a record 310 weeks as world No.1.
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“After Doha I would like to play another tournament and then I plan to prepare for clay, with a focus later on Halle, Wimbledon and the Olympics.”
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Federer has won 103 ATP titles and spent a record 310 weeks as world No.1.
