Former world No.1 Roger Federer will make his tennis comeback in March

Absent from next week’s Australian Open because of a persistent knee injury, Roger Federer has shut down talk of retirement and pinpointed a comeback date.

Roger Federer will be back on the court in March. Picture: Greg Wood / AFP

Roger Federer has silenced any talk of retirement and confirmed he’ll return to tennis in March.

The all-time great was forced to skip next week’s Australian Open because of a persistent knee injury, which fuelled talk the 39-year-old could be on the verge of retirement.

He has undergone two rounds of knee surgery since his last appearance on tour at the 2020 Australian Open.

But in his first comments since December, Federer said the only reason he skipped Australia was because of a slow recovery.

His knee is still not 100 per cent, but having experienced no setbacks to date, Federer has agreed to rejoin the tour at the Qatar Open in Doha beginning on March 8.

“I’ve been thinking about when and where to come back for a long time,” Federer said in comments translated from Swiss outlet SRF.

“Australia was a touch too early because of my knee. That hurts. It’s one of the places where I love to play the most.”

Federer said he chose Doha to ease himself back in to tournament play.

“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.”

Roger Federer will miss the Australian Open for the first time in his career as he continues his recovery from two rounds of knee surgery. Picture: AFP

The 20-time Grand Slam winner indicated he would attempt to play at the French Open but he would be led by his body, prioritising Wimbledon, the Tokyo Olympics and the US Open.

Federer also conceded he did not want to “pathologically stay on the tour”, which could effect his life post his career.

“I want to be able to go skiing with the children and with (wife) Mirka,” he said.

“Or go hiking, play basketball or start ice hockey – I still have so many dreams. For that I need a good body, and I don’t want to hit it against the wall.”

Federer remains determined to avoid seeing out his career with an uncompetitive farewell tour and gave no indication when he would put his racquet down.

“I like to play tennis for life. In the last few months I have given a lot in rehab, in the conditioning area,” Federer said.

“I had to go through it, but I always enjoyed it. I want to celebrate great victories again. And for that I am ready to go the long, hard road.”

Originally published as Former world No.1 Roger Federer will make his tennis comeback in March