Roger Federer is training hard to get ready for the start of the 2021 season at next February’s Australian Open in Melbourne.
Federer entered only one tournament in 2020 at the Australian Open last January. The Swiss legend reached his 15th Australian Open semifinal and his 46th Grand Slam semifinal. He beat John Millman in the tie-break of the fifth set in the third round to score his 100th win at the Australian Open. In the quarter final Federer saved seven match points to beat Tennys Sandgren but he struggled with injury problems and lost to Novak Djokovic in the semifinal, his last official match of the year.
After playing in the record-breaking charity match against Rafael Nadal in Cape Town in front of more than 50000 spectators, Federer was sidelined by a right knee injury and underwent surgery last February.
The season was suspended from March to August due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Federer was not able to play again, when the season resumed, and underwent the second surgery.
Federer decided to take a rest and focus on the 2021 season to reach his best shape for next February’s Australian Open.
Federer’s coach Ivan Ljubicic is confident about Federer’s come-back. The former Croatian player travelled to Switzerland to visit Roger and was impressed by his motivation to return to his best shape.
“Roger is working very hard and is motivated to fight for the big titles next season. We are getting new information about the Australian Open. The Australian Government wants the event to unfold under strict rules. Both Roger and I tried to do our best in the past eight months. I have been to Switzerland, and we have trained on the court. Roger is very motivated He is incredible. Many people wonder why he still plays, finding it hard to understand that he still enjoys the game and wants to chase notable wins. He wants to be competitive and get back to the level he had before the injury”, said Ivan Ljubicic.
In January 2017 Federer made an impressive come-back after undergoing knee surgery in February 2016. The 20-time Grand Slam champion was sidelined for six months after losing to Milos Raonic in five sets in the Wimbledon semifinal in 2016. He returned to action in January 2017 with an epic five set win over Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final. Federer claimed seven titles, including his 19th Grand Slam triumph at Wimbledon.
Federer extended his Grand Slam record by winning his 20th Major title at the 2018 Australian Open against Marin Cilic in five sets. He clinched three more titles that season in Rotterdam, Stuttgart and Basel and became the oldest world number 1 in 45-year history of the ATP Ranking at the age of 36 in February 2018 after winning the quarter final in Rotterdam. He enjoyed another successful season in 2019 winning his 8th title in Dubai, his fourth title Miami, his 10th title in Halle and 10th title in Basel. He has claimed a total of 103 ATP titles, trailing only Jimmy Connors’ 109 titles. As a 38-year-old player he won the home tournament in Basel becoming the oldest tour-level champion since Ken Rosewall.
