Ivan Ljubicic: 'Roger Federer will train in Dubai, hoping to get ready for Melbourne'

After being friends for years, Roger Federer and Ivan Ljubicic started to work together in 2016. Ljubicic had to be patient with his pupil, who had to skip the second part of the season due to a knee injury that required surgery in February. Federer made an impressive comeback in 2017, barely losing a match and claiming two Major titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, his first trophies at that level since 2012! Roger became world no. 1 again in February 2018 following another Australian Open triumph, standing strong at 36 and maintaining that level until the end of 2019. Well-capable of challenging much younger opponents at the top, Federer won four ATP titles in 2019 and finished inside the top-3 behind Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, hoping for more in 2020. The Swiss kicked off the new season with the Australian Open semi-final run, passing two challenging obstacles before losing to Novak Djokovic in the battle for the final.

As it turned out, that has been Federer's last official match so far, with the Swiss experiencing a knee injury that required two surgeries in February and May. As always in the past five years, Ljubicic is waiting for his player to get back at 100% and start competing again. Ivan and Roger will train in Dubai in the next couple of weeks and hope for the best, seeking the Australian Open return in February as their first target. Roger spent time with his family during the coronavirus pandemic, experiencing the shortest season of his career and hitting the practice court again in October.

Roger Federer will train in Dubai, hoping to get ready for Melbourne.

Slowly increasing his sessions' pace, it seemed that Federer should be ready for the delayed Australian Open that starts on February 8. Still, the Swiss received a massive national honor the past weekend, saying he is still not at 100% and announcing a tight race towards Melbourne. If they fail to prepare him for the first Major of the season, Ljubicic and Federer will remain on the practice court, not rushing anything and setting eyes on Wimbledon, Tokyo Olympics and the US Open as his prime targets for 2021. Thanks to his 2019 points, Federer is still ranked in the top-5 and should have a good starting position once he decides to return, eager to show his greatness again in the season when he turns 40. 

"Roger has been preparing for a regular season. Our goal is to get ready for the Australian Open, but we will see how things will work. We will train in Dubai and hope for the best." Ivan Ljubicic said.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3amA0L0