After more than a year of absence from the circuit – he has not played since the 2020 Australian Open – Roger Federer has revealed to Swiss television SRF that he will return to Doha in early March. “For the first time, I have the feeling that my knee is ready for competition again,” explained the 39-year-old Swiss champion. Federer has had knee surgery twice in recent months. He also detailed his goals for the season: “I want to focus later on Halle, Wimbledon and the Olympics”, one of the few singles titles he does not yet have.
A “stiff back” forced Nadal to withdraw from the ATP Cup
The Spaniard was to really kick off his season on Tuesday morning against Australian Alex de Minaur for his first ATP Cup match, team competition. But he finally announced his package on Twitter: “Hello everyone, we have decided with the Spain team and my staff not to play today because my back is stiff.” Nadal said he hoped to have recovered by Thursday, when Spain meet Greece. Roberto Bautista Agut will finally face de Minaur.
Hi all, we have decided with #TeamSpain and my team, to not play today the first match of the @ATPCup here in #Melbourne since I have a stiff low back. Hopefully I’ll be better for Thursday. We have a strong team, all the to @pablocarreno91 @BautistaAgut & @M_Granollers #we go UD83C UDDEA UD83C UDDF8
– Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) February 2, 2021
In the same competition, Novak Djokovic’s Serbia defeated Milos Raonic’s Canada (2–1) with two wins for the world No. 1, in singles and doubles with Filip Krajinovic. Austria’s Dominic Thiem lost 6–2, 6–4 to Italy’s world No. 10 Matteo Berrettini.
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