Swiss tennis star Roger Federer admits he faces a race against time to be ready for the first Grand Slam of 2021 despite the event being postponed until February.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion issued a new update on his current fitness whilst speaking to reporters at the Swiss Sports Awards on Sunday evening. The 39-year-old hasn’t played a competitive match in almost a year due to a right knee injury which required two surgical procedures. The second surgery was conducted after the first failed to produce the desired results.
“I would have hoped that I would be at 100 percent by October,” srf.ch quoted Federer as saying. “But I still am not today. It will be tight for the Australian Open.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the Australian Open is likely to get underway on February 8th. Although there is still to be official confirmation of the date change from Tennis Australia. If Federer wishes to play at the event he will need to travel to the country next month and undergo a mandatory 15-day quarantine before playing.
“Lets see how the next couple of months go. I’ve done a lot of physio and physical work lately, now lets see how the tennis goes,” he said.
Whilst staying coy about when he will return to the ATP Tour, Federer has insisted that he is happy with his recovery and there has been no setbacks since his second operation back in June.
“I wish I was further along, but at the same time I’m satisfied with where I am at the moment,” he said of his recovery.
“We had a plan from the start in which we took enough time. Only when we are sure that we can move on to the next step will we do it.”
Due to injury, Federer has only managed to play in one tournament this season which was at the Melbourne major where he reached the semi-finals before losing to Novak Djokovic. Despite the lengthy absence, he remains fifth in the world rankings thanks to an adjustment in the points system due to the COVID-19 pandemic which disrupted the calendar.
