Guess who’s back, back again. GOAT is back; tell a friend!

Yes, Roger Federer is back. After two major procedures on his knee and more than a year out of action, Roger Federer is set to return to action at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2021. For the first time since Feb 2020, Federer fans will get to see their star and idol in action. There was a moment of hesitation when Federer pulled out of the Miami Open, the original event for his return. But rumors coming out of multiple sources have confirmed that Federer is on track to compete in the Qatar Open.

The biggest sign of excitement was when Federer posted a picture on his Instagram with the caption, “The countdown to Doha begins.” In February 2020, Federer had shocked the world by announcing that he had undergone a knee (arthroscopic) operation, which was initially going to see him miss out on the French Open, traditionally held at the end of May.

But then, in June 2020, Federer made another shocking announcement. On his social media, he informed his fans that he had experienced a setback during his initial rehabilitation and that he underwent an additional arthroscopic procedure on his right knee. He had estimated that he would miss the entire 2020 season and be back in 2021.

During the build-up to the Australian Open, there were rumors that Federer was not happy with his knee and that the recovery was not going according to the timescale initially estimated. At the beginning of February, Federer announced that he would be pulling out of the Australian Open, as he wanted to return with a tournament where there will be less pressure on him.

Federer broke the news on SRF Radio:

” I have been thinking about when and where to come back for a long time. Australia was a touch too early because of my knee. I wanted to make my comeback at a smaller tournament so that I wasn’t fully in focus and where the stress is also a little less,”

But things are looking up, and Federer has been posting images of his training and playing on the court during February. With his recent post, it is all but confirmed that Federer would be back in action at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2021 in Doha. 

This will be the 29th edition of the Qatar Open, an ATP Tour 250 hard court event. It is slated to take place from the 8th to 14th of March at the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash complex. So far, Dominic Thiem, Andrey Rublev, Denis Shapovalov, Stanislas Wawrinka and Roberto Bautista-Agut are some of the top stars who have confirmed their participation.

Written by
Chirag Bhattad