Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley has confirmed that Roger Federer will play at Melbourne Park from 8 to 21 February 2021.
Federer played his last competitive match last January, when he lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2020 Australian Open semifinal. The Swiss star was sidelined by a knee injury and underwent two surgeries.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion admitted recently that he is in a race against time to be in shape for the 2021 Australian Open, but he has been given a few more weeks to train for the first Grand Slam tournament of the season.
Tiley is confident that all the best players will play in Melbourne. Twenty-three Grand Slam chhaSerena Williams and all of the top 100 WTA players have committed to play in Melbourne.
“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 the entry list, but the commitment is there. Every player, including Roger Federer, has committed. We have been in touch with him and his team and it’s been three days now. He has hit for the first time in Dubai. He is in his normal training routine. He said to us that February 8 was a more suitable date for him in terms of preparing for the Australian Open, but a lo twill depend on how he will responds to his surgery in the next two to three weeks of training”, said Tiley.
The Australian Open will have 50% capacity for crowd and has adopted a series of strict protocols.
“It’s a very fluid and and very uncertain environment. It’s a highly contagious virus. You have to everything you can from players in their bubble wearing masks, physically distancing, practicing good hygiene, not mingling, not hanging around with each other. We have designed the bubble in such a way where it will probably be the safest place to be in the world, because there will be such strict and strong protocols”, said Craig Tiley. The Australian Open qualifiers will be held in Middle East. Doha will host the men’s qualifying round matches, while Dubai will the venue for the women’s qualifying tournament.
