World #8 and 20-time Major champion Roger Federer has committed to competing in the ATP Geneva Open and at Roland Garros, before heading into the grass-court season and Wimbledon. Federer announced this news to his fans through social media on Sunday.
Hi everyone!
Happy to let you know that I will play Geneva🇨🇭 and Paris 🇫🇷. Until then I will use the time to train. Can’t wait to play in Switzerland again. ❤️🚀— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) April 18, 2021
Federer will be playing in his second tournament of the season, having returned to the tour in Doha after two arthroscopic right knee surgeries and nearly a year away from the tour. The 39-year-old’s bid for the Doha crown was ended in the quarterfinals by eventual champion, Nikoloz Basilashvili. Following his loss, the 20-time Grand Slam champion withdrew from Dubai and the Miami Open, citing a need for more training.
“I hope then by Wimbledon I’m going to be 100% and that’s when the season starts for me. Everything until then it’s just ‘Let’s see how it goes’” Federer said. He added “I might surprise myself but then actually I’ve already done in practice the last few weeks, I was surprised at actually how well it did go. But like we know, matches are a different animal.”
Future Plans
The Swiss star is hoping to boost his confidence ahead of Wimbledon, which is likely a more realistic target than the French Open, a tournament he has won only once, in 2009. He mentioned that his top priority would be to perform at a high-level physically, and that if everything goes according to plan, he also plans to compete in the Tokyo Olympics. A Gold Medal in singles is one of the few trophies Federer has not won over the course of his glittering career.
“Participation in the Olympics is part of my plan although my main goal was everything from today until Wimbledon, the tournament that precedes the Olympics,” Federer, who won a gold medal in doubles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and a silver medal in singles at the 2012 London Olympics told beIN Sports.
Federer last played in Switzerland in his hometown of Basel where he claimed his 10th title. He will surely be hoping that Geneva can mark the starting point in another glorious comeback, having returned from a long absence to win two Major titles in 2017. That may look unlikely, but Federer has proved the doubters wrong more than once before in his career.
