Roger Federer: 'I had a lot of time to get inside myself'

Great news for all tennis lovers comes from Australia. Because Roger Federer's participation in the Australian Open has been confirmed, the first Grand Slam tournament of the 2021 season. So the Swiss is officially there, even if the registration for the tournament does not mean that the king of tennis will be at the start. But this is the first step towards the great return of Federer, who has not played since last February and who is struggling to regain his condition after a double operation. Due to the pandemic, the Australian Open has changed its date and moves from mid-January to February, starting on the 8th. However, all the players will have to carry out the quarantine and for this by January 15th they will all be there, on the other side of the world. The postponement of the tournament facilitates Federer, who is recovering more slowly than he hoped and believed. Tournament director Craig Tiley has made it known that in addition to Djokovic and Nadal, Federer will also be in Melbourne, having won the tournament for the first time back in 2004. Federer hopes to be on the pitch in a few weeks and if he does he will return to play a circuit match for the first time in a year, having been the last tournament played at the Australian Open, he won two heroic games with Millman and Sandgren before lose clearly with Djokovic who won the tournament. If Federer does not play it would be a shame, because one of the absolute stars of tennis would be missing who, however, in this 2020, in addition to the usual Djokovic and Nadal, has discovered that he has a parterre of future champions with the Austrian Thiem who paws to overtake the Serbian and Spanish after the victory of the US Open, and the Russian Medvedev, winner of the Masters, without forgetting Tsitsipas, Zverev and Rublev. And then there are the Italians with Fognini who will return after the injury and Covid, Matteo Berrettini who starts the year from number 10 and with Jannik Sinner, a terrible boy with an assured future who will train with Nadal in Australia.

Federer: 'How others are doing is important to me'

Recently, Roger Federer reflected on these past 10 months and had a few noteworthy things to say. The maestro said, “I had a lot of time to get inside myself. Life on the tour is otherwise so fast-paced. But I really enjoy being with other people, with the team, the family, with Mirka. I like it when it’s busy. How other people are doing is extremely important to me. You always come first for me. If they’re fine, I’m fine too. That’s why I didn’t need this lockdown to see that. But maybe not everyone was aware of what is important in life.” The winners of the year-ending ATP Awards have been announced, with both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal winning big. While Roger Federer has been voted the Fans' Favorite player for a staggering 18th year in a row, Rafael Nadal has won the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for the fourth time in his career. The ATP Fans Favorite Award began in 2000, with Gustavo Kuerten winning the inaugural title. Russia’s Marat Safin won the prize for the following two years, but since then Roger Federer has maintained an absolute stranglehold on the award.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3hk31bW