Swiss Roger Federer returns to Spain’s Rafael Nadal at their tennis match at The … [+]
AFP through Getty Images
Roger Federer is expected to return as expected at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha which runs on March 8-13, according to Richard Krajicek.
“As far as I know, Roger will be playing in Doha, the week after Rotterdam. But if he ‘s fit and ready to play, we’ll hear from him,” said Krajicek, a former key player. is now the director of the competition in Rotterdam, which runs March 1-7.
Federer, 39, trains in Dubai, which is only 235 miles from Doha.
Krajicek named world No. 2 Rafael Nadal as the top star in Rotterdam, but he would like to add Federer to the field as well. Federer is a three-time Rotterdam champion, winning first title in 2005 and most recently winning again in 2018.
Federer, who now has 20 Grand Slams positions tied with Nadal for top men, announced last month that he was pulling out of the Australian Open due to two knee surgeries. right in 2020.
“I will start talks this coming week for competitions that start at the end of February and then I will start building a record for the rest of the year,” said his representative Tony Godsick and the CEO of their management company, TEAM8, to the Associated Press via email.
Federer has not played an ATP event since losing to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinals last year. He finally played when he defeated Nadal in a charity match in South Africa in February.
He then underwent arthroscopic right knee surgery in February and had a follow-up procedure in June. At the time, he announced that he would not play against him until 2021.
Federer even raised concerns about his future by saying, “I hope there is still something to see in the new year. We’ll see. “
Earlier this year, Federer took the top spot on the annual Forbes list of highest paid athletes with $ 106.3 million in pre-tax earnings. The Swiss ace became the first tennis player to achieve No. 1 status since being disbanded in 1990.