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Roger Federer hopes to be “100%” fit for Wimbledon as he prepares to return to Doha this week.
Federer, who needed two surgeries to correct a long-standing knee problem, is due to play at the Qatar Open this week.
The 39-year-old Swiss, with 20 Grand Slam titles to his name, said at a press conference on Sunday: “I am very happy to come back to play a tournament again. It has been a long time. I never thought it would take so long.
Federer, who is a three-time champion in Doha but hasn’t competed there since 2012, will face Britain’s number one and sometimes his training partner Dan Evans or Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in his first game.
He added: “Obviously right now I feel like it’s just ‘let’s see how the games go, see how the training goes with all the top players and pro players. , not just the training partners “. I’ve played a lot of two-on-one over the past few months and so on.
“I know I have to start training again after here, so from that point of view it’s just about getting stronger, better, fitter, faster and everything in between.
“I hope at Wimbledon I’ll be 100% and that’s when the season starts for me.
“Until then, it’s just ‘let’s see how it goes’ – I might surprise myself, but in fact I’ve done it in practice in the last few weeks, I’ve been surprised to how good it went, but as we know matches are a different animal.
“Right now, it’s like I’m taking it day in and day out. (I’m) happy to be back on the track and see how things go but of course for me it all starts with the grass.
Federer has not been in a competitive game since the 2020 Australian Open – over a year ago – and will withdraw from the top five for the first time in five years on Monday, but the Swiss player insisted on the fact that retirement was not planned.
He added: “Retirement was never really considered. I think it’s more of a conversation if the knee is bothering me for months and months – so let’s watch it.
“Now is not the time to think about it… let’s say in the fall of this year.
“I just feel like the story is not over. It’s not like there’s a specific reason I wanted to keep playing tennis other than I loved playing tennis, I love being on the road.
“I’m still a work in progress, but probably one of the other reasons I’m coming back is that I want to come back to this level playing against the biggest players and in the biggest tournaments and hopefully winning them.” again.
“I hope I can play in front of the crowds again.”
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