Craig Tiley: 'Roger Federer is doing everything to get ready for the Australian Open'

The Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley is confident about Roger Federer's participation at the upcoming first Major of the season in Melbourne. Tiley and his team have done everything to bring the world's finest players to Melbourne for a month, allowing them to practice for two weeks during the quarantine period and compete in a couple of tournaments before the Australian Open. All the leading players are on the entry list, and all eyes are set on the six-time champion Roger Federer, who is doing everything to recover and compete in Melbourne. The 20-time Major champion played only one tournament in 2020, reaching the Australian Open semi-final in January and skipping the rest of the season due to a knee injury that required two surgeries. Roger battled hard against John Millman (came from 8-4 down in the deciding tie break) and Tennys Sandgren (seven match points saved) to reach the semis, losing to Novak Djokovic in straight sets and staying away from the court ever since.

A couple of weeks later, Roger underwent knee surgery, planning to make a comeback in June in Halle and Wimbledon. Instead of that, the Swiss had to undergo the second surgery in May, deciding to skip the rest of the season and setting eyes on 2021. Federer hit the practice court again in October, increasing his training sessions' pace and hoping to get ready for the first Major of the season.

Roger Federer is trying to get ready for the Australian Open.

In a recent interview, Roger said he is giving his everything to win the race against time and get back at 100% ahead of Melbourne's best-of-five encounters. Roger and Ivan Ljubicic had arrived in Dubai, working on the practice court and having enough time to value where Roger's game stands at the moment and if he is capable of marathon encounters. Federer's main targets in 2021 are Wimbledon, the Olympic Games and the US Open.

"We have a commitment from every player in the world to be in Australia. It's the start of the season, and anything can happen with that entry list, but the commitment is there. Every player, including Roger Federer, has committed. He said to us that February 8 was a more suitable date for preparing for the Australian Open. But a lot will depend on how he responds to his surgery in the next two to three weeks. We would not be in a position to run the Australian Open if the players were required to stay in their hotel rooms for two weeks. We do expect to have good crowds, but this is not a year that we try to beat numbers," Craig Tiley said.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3pe5UO9