Following recent speculation Roger Federer has confirmed he will return to the clay this year where he is set to participate in one tournament leading up to the French Open.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion will miss both the Madrid Open and Italian Open. Two Masters tournament that is set to begin at the end of April with Madrid. Instead, Federer has confirmed he will be playing at the Geneva Open for the first time since 1998 when the tournament was classed as a Challenger event. It is now categorised as an ATP 250 event and has been since 2015.
“(I’m) 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,” Federer wrote on Twitter.
So far this season the 39-year-old has only played in one tournament which was the Qatar Open where he reached the semi-finals before losing to Nikoloz Basilashvili. Federer has missed more than a year of competitive tennis between 2020-2021 due to a right knee injury which required two surgical procedures. The second was conducted after the first failed to produce the desired results.
Reacting to the announcement, the tournament director of the Geneva Open has described Federer’s participation as a ‘dream come true.’ Thierry Grin told Le Matin that two factors proved decisive in the inclusion of the Swiss Maestro – Federer’s ongoing comeback from injury and the decision to delay the French Open by a week due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s just exceptional; it’s our best dream come true,” said Grin.”Sport has suffered so much (due to the pandemic), it had to start again one day. But to relaunch with the return of Roger Federer in Switzerland, I find that this is a magnificent signal and a superb reward for all those who fought to keep sport alive during this pandemic.”
Coincidently the decision by Federer to participate in his home tournament comes a month after he agreed to be a brand ambassador for Switzerland Tourism. The objective for the tennis star is to help attract people to visit his country. Any appearance fees he makes for the ST will be donated to his foundation.
Gérard Tsobanian, who is the boss of GTP, has welcomed Federer’s return to Geneva. GTP is in charge of the running of the tournament.
“It is a magnificent reward to see Roger Federer place his trust in us,” Tsobanian commented.
The Geneva Open will begin on May 17th which is two weeks before the French Open. Denis Shapovalov and Fabio Fognini are also expected to play.
