At the time of his long-awaited return after thirteen months without competition, Wednesday in Doha, questions surround the knee of Roger Federer. As part of the round of 16 of the Doha tournament, he is opposed to Briton Daniel Evans (28th in the world), precisely his training partner these last two weeks in Dubai. One thing is certain: the Swiss keep his passion for tennis firmly in place, even for almost forty years. Federer will celebrate them on August 8.
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“There are question marks everywhere, that’s normal”, summarizes the Swiss with twenty Grand Slam trophies – like Rafael Nadal now – him whose last match dates back to January 30, 2020 (semi-final of the Australian Open against Djokovic). “For me, playing tennis is like riding a bike, I know how to do it, it doesn’t worry me, he explains. My only concern is the knee. ” “A double operation (two arthroscopies in February and May 2020, editor’s note), it’s a challenge, I had never experienced that before. After the second, I started from zero ”, he emphasizes.
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Beyond the starting point in Doha this week, “The next three to five months will tell me a lot”, fixed as horizon Federer. “Like when I came back in 2017, how my knee will withstand transatlantic flights, time zone changes, how it holds up in winning three-set matches, playing four days in a row, or three very intense sets against to the best? he enumerates. All these questions, I need to answer them. ” Elements of answers this Wednesday, March 10 in Doha.
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