Hopman Cup Boss: ‘Roger Federer Is Fit And Ready To Go’

The highly anticipated return of Roger Federer is currently on track according Hopman Cup director Paul Kilderry.

Federer is set to return to action during the first week of January at the Perth tournament, which is an annual exhibition event that features mixed teams playing against each other throughout the week. Federer, who last won the tournament in 2001 alongside Martina Hingis, will be partnered with Belinda Bencic.

Spending part of his off-season training in Dubai, the tournament director of the Hopman Cup believes that the 35-year-old will be ready in time for the event, which starts on January 1st. During an interview with The West Australian, Kilderry confirmed that he have received positive news from Federer’s camp.

“He’s fit and ready to go, no problems at all,” Kilderry said.
“I think he’s coming a few days before the event, which will be great. I know he’s training hard and I think he has really enjoyed his time.
“Since he started out as a professional he hasn’t had an extended period of time where he has been able to put in a huge training block like he has this time.
“The feeling is he has done a lot of hard work and he’s eager to play.”

Federer hasn’t played a competitive match since losing in the semifinals of the Wimbledon Championships. Blighted by illness and injury throughout 2016, the Swiss player decided to end his season early in July and continue the rehabilitation of his right knee. He was scheduled to star in this month’s International Premier Tennis League, but failed to appear due to economic issues troubling the event.

A total of eight teams will participate in the upcoming Hopman Cup with Federer playing in Group A. Both Federer and Bencic will face players from Germany, Great Britain and France. Other notable attendees include Nick Kyrgios, Petra Kvitova, Alexander Zverev and Richard Gasquet.

There is uncertainty surrounding Kvitova’s attendance at the event following her off-season injury. Earlier this month the two-time Wimbledon champion suffered a stress fracture on her right foot. Soon after confirming the problem, the Czech reiterated her commitment to the upcoming tournament in Perth.

“While my 2017 preparation is inevitably delayed, I’m still hopeful of being able to start my season on time at Hopman Cup.” Kvitova recently wrote on social media.

Speaking about Kvitova’s injury, Kilderry is keeping quietly confident that the tournament will not be marred by any late withdrawals (barring injury) and has insisted that he is keeping close contact with ‘nearly’ all the players.

“She’s in a moon boot for 10 days, which she’ll get off this week, then hopefully start practising and be right.“ He said.
“There’s things you can’t control, but we’re as confident as you can be everyone’s fine. I’ve been in regular contact with nearly all the players so I know they are fit and feeling good.”

January’s tournament will be the 29th edition of the Hopman Cup.

The 2017 Hopman Cup teams (as of 17/12/16)