[ad_1]
Successful return
Roger Federer wins the first game after two surgeries and a 405-day break
Roger Federer returns to the Doha tennis circuit with a 7: 6 (10: 8), 3: 6, 7: 5 victory over Britain’s Dan Evans (ATP 28). His rival in the quarterfinals is the Georgian Nikolos Basilashvili (ATP 42).
Roger Federer is back on the tennis circuit. As a winner.
Roger Federer will return to the tennis circus in the Qatari capital Doha at 6:16 pm local time. 405 days after his last match in the semifinals of the Australian Open, after two knee surgeries, at the age of 39, with many questions and low expectations.
There are many novelties in the game against the British Dan Evans (28, ATP 30), with whom he had previously trained for two weeks in Dubai: the racket, the shoes from the Swiss manufacturer On.
New footwear for Roger Federer.
But many things are also as if Federer has never been absent. Dominate with his own serve, defending himself from a break ball when the score is 4: 4 in the first set, then a set ball in the tie-break. And he uses his third chance to win a set: 10: 8 in the tie-break. The middle conclusion: strong in service, still a bit rusty in return. Evans, after all number 28 in the world and starting the new season with the first tournament win of his career in Melbourne, broke to 3-1 in the second round. Federer can no longer react to that. On the fourth attempt, Evans wins a set against Federer for the first time: 6: 3.
A third sentence has to decide. Nervousness. Adrenaline A situation that Federer has not seen for months. A situation that cannot be simulated in training. But also a situation that distinguishes winners from losers in tennis. At 3: 3, Federer defends himself against two break opportunities: one with his 12th ace, the second with a stop ball. When the score is 5: 4 and Evans serves, Federer awards a first match point. At 6: 5 he achieves the first and only rest.
After 2:23 hours, he prevailed with 7: 6 (10: 8), 3: 6, 7: 5. It is the 1243rd victory of his career. It is not the greatest. But without a doubt one of the most important. After a year off. After two operations. At 39 years old. Federer says:
“It feels great. At my age, this is not a fact. In the end I was very tired. What matters is how I feel tomorrow. It has been a long and difficult road for me.”
Roger Federer, the man of the moments. Roger Federer, the winner. Also in the quarterfinals? There, the Basel bidder meets Georgian Nikolos Basilaschwili (29, ATP 42). Federer won the only duel so far. Five years ago at the Australian Open.
