At 39 years and nine months, each of his appearances has become an attraction. Beaten in his second match in Doha by Nikoloz Basilashvili, future winner of the tournament, Roger Federer had displayed a very decent level of play after thirteen months without competition. A return without chaining since he had given up playing the Dubai tournament in the wake. Then announced at the Masters 1000 in Madrid (May 2-9), he preferred to delay his resumption on clay. And it is in his native country of Geneva, an ATP 250 where the picture is much less raised than a Masters 1000, that the Balois will begin his preparation for his summer goals: Wimbledon and the Tokyo Olympics. The world number 8 will enter the running this Tuesday in the second round against Jordan Thompson (62nd) or Pablo Andujar (76th).
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: Roland-Garros: the French public will see Federer in 2021
The director of the tournament Thierry Grin, very happy to welcome for the first time the Swiss legend, summarized in the Swiss magazine L
'Illustré
: “He's not coming to say hello. He comes to win matches before his big goal, Wimbledon. " Operated twice in quick succession on the right knee during the first half of 2020, the Swiss, who will celebrate his fortieth birthday on August 8, does not project himself. He already says he is "happy" that the knee "did not complain of the passage from hard to the ground". It must be said that he has not trod the ocher in competition since his defeat at Roland-Garros in the semi-final against Nadal in 2019. If he recognizes that the change of date of Roland-Garros (postponed by a week from May 30 to June 13) disturbed him a little in the establishment of his calendar, he assures us: "We had thought about several possible calendars in relation to clay, he told the press. Swiss. And when we learned that Roland-Garros was out ofone week, with my team we discussed it and we said that it might be better to come back with a 250 than with a Masters 1000. But Geneva is already much more than a small test. I'm going to see if I can play for several days in a row, it's a real competition and I know there is always the danger of losing early. ”
"It is important to see first how the body and the mind will react."
Roger Federer
The king is naked, dispossessed of his two main records, number of grand slam titles that he now shares with Nadal (20) and number of weeks accumulated in first place in the ATP ranking by Djokovic.
The Swiss do not make a mountain of it, considering themselves out of the race compared to the other two monsters in the game.
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Nadal and Djokovic are on one side, and me on the other, he also assured in an interview with RTS.
I will say more after ten matches, but at the moment I am not looking to compete directly with them.
I think that when I am in good health and that I have spent a long time on the court, I will increase my confidence and I will be at the next level ”For him the essential is elsewhere.
“It is important to first see how the body and the mind will react.
But anyway, to answer it, I have to play about ten matches in order to really know how I feel.
Wimbledon is a priority.
I'm going to be hitting a lot of balls and hopefully that helps the turf, I think it will be beneficial. ”
"I come back from much further, there are more question marks than at the end of 2016."
Roger Federer
No question either of comparing his return in 2021 to that of 2017. During his previous medical comeback four years ago, after a six-month hiatus, the Balois won at the Australian Open in stride. .
"I'm coming back from much further, there are more question marks than at the end of 2016, when I don't have as much tennis behind me, I just finished my physical preparation phase."
After the ATP 250 in Geneva, the Swiss will play Roland-Garros (May 30-June 13).
With his sights set, of course, on his Wimbledon garden (8 titles) and also a coronation at the Olympic Games, where he won gold in doubles (with Stan Wawrinka, Beijing 2008).
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