Roger Federer on return after a year: Felt great out there

Playing his first match in over a year after knee injury, Roger Federer pleased with the way he handled tough moments against Dan Evans at Doha

Roger Federer said he “couldn’t care less about the outcome” after winning his first match in over a year on Wednesday as he returned from injury to beat Britain’s Dan Evans at the Qatar Open.

Federer, 39, who underwent two knee surgeries in 2020, said “it felt great to be out there again...it will give me a lot of answers”. “It’s going to be interesting to see how I feel tomorrow,” he added following his epic two hours and 24 minutes 7-6 (10/8), 3-6, 7-5 victory over the in-form British No. 1.

Dan Evans

The 20-time Grand Slam title winner had not played a match since a semi-final defeat by Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open in January 2020—405 days ago—and acknowledged it was unusual for a player of his age to return after injury. “I was very happy with how I was able to handle the tough moments, I didn’t think my game started to wobble,” he said. 

Federer joked with the umpire at the coin toss about the rules of the sport during COVID-19, having not played since the ATP Tour was suspended last year due to the pandemic. “I tend to forget a lot of things...like I’d ask for the towel and they couldn’t bring it to me because of the [COVID-19] rules,” he said after. “It feels like I’ve been away longer than I have.” Federer had to battle on Wednesday, saving a set point in the opener against a player who was a recent training partner. “Dan was a tough first round—the lucky thing was I’d practised with him for the last few weeks,” Federer said. “I knew I had to come forward more and come to the net and take chances and obviously that stresses the body more. I was really explosive actually.”

Federer received a rapturous welcome from the 20 percent-capacity crowd at Doha’s Khalifa Tennis Complex, beaming back at fans, some of whom brandished portraits of the Swiss star while others waved his national colours. Evans, 30, said after the match “it was clear he’d been off but [he] showed a lot of glimpses of why he’s so good.”

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