Federer to begin season in Doha, eyes Wimbledon and Tokyo Olympics

Bengaluru, February 2: Former world No.1 Roger Federer is expected to start the 2021 season with the Qatar ExxonMobil Open ATP 250 Series tournament in March, a year in which he also hopes to compete at the Wimbledon and the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics.

The 39-year-old, who is tied with Rafael Nadal on 20 Grand Slam titles, has not played a competitive match since losing to Novak Djokovic in the 2020 Australian Open semifinals at Melbourne Park .

The Qatar ExxonMobil Open being held at the hard-courts of Doha's Khalifa International Tennis Complex has traditionally been one of the season openers of the ATP calendar.

However this year, the Qatar Tennis Federation decided to push back the tournament to a March 8 start date as Tennis Australia needed to delay its swing of events to accommodate local coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic measures.

Federer was hoping make his comeback from double knee surgery in 2020 by competing at a smaller tournament after skipping the Australian Open and the Doha event, which he was won three times, suits him the best.

Swiss broadcaster SRF Sport reported that Federer could return at the ATP 250 tournament in Doha from March 8 to 13.

"I want to celebrate great victories again. And for that I'm ready to go the long, hard road," Federer was quoted as saying in the interview with SRF Sport.

#Tennis- und #Federer-Fans aufgepasst ❗ @rogerfederer kehrt Anfang März zurück. Er gibt nach 13 Monaten Absenz beim #ATP-250-Turnier in Doha sein #Comeback. Dies hat er gegenüber #SRF bestätig: https://t.co/5aYqNvW8z3 @atptour #srfsport #srftennis #RogerFederer pic.twitter.com/o7edufk4vM

— SRF Sport (@srfsport) February 2, 2021

"I've been thinking about when and where to come back for a long time. I wanted to make my comeback at a smaller tournament so that I wasn't fully in focus and where the stress is also a little less."

Federer said he had continued to keep track of results on the ATP Tour as worked his way back to fitness.

"I actually thought that I would not follow the sport very much and would be more busy with my children and my rehabilitation.

"I was surprised that I kept checking results and watching matches. And normally I don't do that at all if I don't take part in a tournament," the Swiss great added.

Federer who won in Doha in 2005, 2006 and 2011 last appeared at the Khalifa International Complex in the 2012 edition, when he pulled out just before the semifinal tie against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga with a back injury.

(With inputs from Agencies)