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Roger Federer beat Briton Dan Evans on his return after 14 months out due to injury, but said he had not played without pain.
The 39-year-old Swiss 20-time Grand Slam winner won 7-6 (10-8) 3-6 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open in Doha.
He had not played competitively since January 2020 after two knee surgeries.
“It feels good to be back. It’s good to be here whether I win or lose, it’s a lot of fun,” Federer said.
“I don’t know if it was ever completely painless,” he added. “You feel tired and you don’t know if it’s the muscle.
“[What’s] the important thing is how I feel tomorrow and the next day for the next six months. “
After a tight first set, Evans won four straight points in the tie-break to lead 4-2. But Federer fought back to level the scores before taking the set with a superb backhand cross pass.
Evans, who had lost all three previous career encounters with Federer, took advantage of a series of errors by the Swiss in the fourth game of the second set to break serve and lead 3-1, before taking the set 6-3 to force a decisive.
The deciding set was much closer and served until Game 12, when Federer broke Evans’ serve for the first time in the match to seal the victory in front of a socially estranged crowd at the Khalifa Tennis Complex.
“Dan had more energy left at the end, but I thought I played a good game and I am incredibly happy with my performance,” said the Swiss.
Federer, a three-time winner of the event, will play Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia in the last eight.
