Roger Federer: 'I feel improvements in my game every week'

The 20-time Major champion Roger Federer is back on the practice court at home in Switzerland, working hard on a comeback that should happen in January. After a couple of months in the gym, Roger has finally grabbed a tennis racquet and hit the court, feeling constant improvements weekly and looking determined to make a fresh start in two months. The Swiss has played only one tournament in 2020, losing in the Australian Open's semi-final and calling it a season after two knee surgeries. Federer had a roller coaster ride in Melbourne, battling hard to reach the last four despite a groin injury and knee pain no one knew about. In the third round, the Swiss trailed 8-4 in the deciding tie break against the home star John Millman, taking six straight points to pass a challenging obstacle and stay alive. Struggling with a groin injury, Federer had to play against seven match points versus Tennys Sandgren in the quarter-final's fourth set, fending them off to prevail in five sets and enter the last four, with not much left in the tank!

In the semis, Novak Djokovic beat Roger in straight sets in what has been the final official match of the season for the Swiss. After the record-breaking Cape Town encounter with Rafael Nadal at the beginning of February, Federer underwent a knee surgery, opting to skip the next couple of months and planning to return in June for the grass swing in Halle and Wimbledon.

Roger Federer is eager to return to the court in January 2021.

Roger failed to reduce the pain and underwent another surgery in May, preferring to skip the rest of the season and get ready for 2021. After a severe knee injury in 2016, Roger made an impressive comeback in 2017, winning three of the next five Majors and becoming world no. 1 in February 2018 at 36. Thanks to those semi-final points from the Australian Open and a healthy 2019 run that saw him taking four ATP titles, Roger is still ranked in the top-4 behind Djokovic, Nadal and Thiem,with an excellent starting position ahead of the new season. 

"I'm very well; I am healthy and accompanied by my family in this long year. It has been a long process, a great experience where I feel that I'm improving little by little. Perhaps I do not feel the improvement every day, but I do from week to week. If I look back, I find a significant evolution. Last week, I returned to the court and enjoyed it a lot, something I had not done since February. I'm working hard to return as soon as possible," Roger Federer said.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3205sdd