Roger Federer withdraws from Dubai, hoping to be 100% for Wimbledon

After his three-set loss to Nikoloz Basilashvili at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Thursday, 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer said he plans to pull out of next week’s tournament in Dubai and is the hope to be 100% healthy for Wimbledon this summer.

“I have decided that it is better to go back to training and as a result, I have decided to pull out of Dubai next week,” said the 39-year-old Swiss Maestro. after losing 6-3, 1-6, 5- 7 to the Georgian.

Federer was back on the hard courts outside one day after defeating British No. Dan Evans in three sets in his first ATP game in 14 months.

Prior to Doha, Federer last played in the Australian Open 2020 semifinals, losing to Novak Djokovic, and then took the rest of the year off while undergoing two approaches on his right knee.

However, he said he had things on his shoulders after playing days back in Doha.

“Muscle pain is all over the shoulder, but I think that comes with the weight,” Federer told reporters. “When you get your back against the wall, you have to take one out. Overall the body is fine. I’m happy – it could be a lot worse.”

Federer had previously announced that he would not be playing on hard outdoor courts at the Miami Open starting March 22 and now says he will be aiming for the grass court season ending at Wimbledon, where he has won eight of his 20 majors and won nearly ninth before blowing up two games. points against Djokovic in the 2019 final.

Djokovic, who is now at 18 majors, passed this week above Federer’s full-time mark of 310 weeks at world No. 1

Federer is also hoping to play in the Tokyo Olympics – he has never won a gold medal in singles – and at the U.S. Open later this summer.

“I might be better earlier, that would be an advantage and that means I’m 100 percent ahead of Wimbledon,” Federer said.

“I can see just the workload that the body and knee are still taking and what is the best way to prepare all the way for the start of the season for me, which is a grass court season.”

However, he plans to play some clay court events in the spring, although it is unclear whether he will play the French Open, where his main rival, Rafael Nadal, will be looking for a 14th Roland Garros title and 21st major break.

“What comes before the grass courts are the clay courts,” Federer said. “So, from that point of view, I have no choice but to play on clay if I want to play games.

“It could be good for me, the clay. It could be bad for me, the clay. So I only know in practice, but I don’t think it will be bad, to be honest. “

As for Basilashvili, the 29-year-old was just taking Federer off the baseline on the way to saving a maids point. He broke Federer’s service to go up 6-5 and then attended the game.

“He’s one of the greatest tennis players ever,” said the Georgian, who is the next opponent of U.S. Taylor Fritz

“I’m so glad he’s coming back and playing again. Absolutely to win against him is a dream. He became an idol.”