Saturday, March 6, 2021. 1:53 PM
DOHA, Qatar – Sussian Roger Federer will face the winner of the duel between France’s Jérémy Chardy and Britain’s Dan Evans at the Qatar Tennis Open next week, in what will be his first official match in over a year.
Federer, who will be seeded second, gets a straight pass in the second round. The clash between Chardy and Evans will take place on Monday.
Chardy pushed Russian Andrey Rublev to a third set in the quarterfinals of the Rotterdam tournament on Friday.
For his part, Evans emerged victorious at the Murray River Open last month in Australia, after defeating Chardy in the semi-finals.
A winner of 20 Grand Slam tournament titles, Federer will take part in his first tournament since losing in the 2020 Australian Open semifinal at the hands of eventual winner, Serbian Novak Djokovic.
Federer, 39, underwent two operations on his right knee last season.
“It has been a long and difficult road,” Federer wrote on Twitter Friday.
“I know I’m not at the finish line yet. I have the feeling that I have good feelings. I have had great workouts and feel like I’m pumping. “
The list of headliners who will take part in the tournament in Doha includes Austria’s Dominic Thiem, who will be the first seed, and Rublev.
Federer won the Qatar Open in 2005, 2006 and 2017. He currently holds fifth in the ATP standings.
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