Federer anticipates summer comeback

Swiss tennis great says he’s ‘doing much better’ after his third knee surgery in two years

GENEVA:

Former men's tennis world number one Roger Federer plagued by recurring knee problems for the last two years hopes to make a comeback at the end of the summer, he told Swiss television.

Federer, who turns 41 in August, hasn't played competitively since losing last July in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon to Pole Hubert Hurkacz.

He then withdrew from the Olympics and underwent his third bout of knee surgery in 18 months, to "suture" his right internal meniscus and "treat (his) cartilage".

Federer played just 13 matches in 2021, having played only six times in 2020.

"I am doing well, much better. For two months I was on crutches, it was long and I had to start from scratch. But it was the right thing to do. The knee wasn't doing well after Wimbledon," Federer told Swiss public broadcaster SRF in Lenzerheide where he was watching the women's World Cup skiing super-G.

"Now I'm slowly getting to a phase where I can think about a comeback," he said.

He also said he had a "very good MRI" a few weeks ago, which makes him "very positive”.

Federer has 20 career Grand Slam titles, tied for second with Novak Djokovic and one behind record-holder Rafael Nadal, who won the season-opening Australian Open.

Federer's most recent Grand Slam title came at the 2018 Australian Open.

The last major of the season, the US Open, is due to start on August 29.

He is set to join Nadal in the Team Europe line-up – captained by legend Bjorn Borg – in the Laver Cup which takes place in London from September 23-25.

The three-day team competition, inspired by golf's Ryder Cup, pits six of the best players from Europe against six players from Team World.