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Former world No. 1 Roger Federer has acknowledged that he is well aware that his opponents will feel if he's not at 100 percent on the court. Federer, a record 20-time Grand Slam champion, underwent two knee surgeries last year and he missed all of the events after the season was restarted.
Djokovic played his last tournament of the 2020 season in Melbourne, where he made the Australian Open semifinal before losing to world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Federer hoped to be ready for the beginning of the 2021 season and play at the Australian Open but that didn't happen as he was forced to skip the event.
But the 39-year-old Swiss is now ready to kick off his 2021 campaign in Doha. ''The opponent will feel it if you are not at a 100 percent. I feel that I am on a good level. But not in top form yet. When I wake up in the morning I feel pretty good.
The pain is under control,'' Federer said, per Simon Graf.
Federer can't tell much at the moment
Record eight-time Wimbledon champion Federer wants to take time and see how will his knee react before making any plans for the rest of the season.
''The knee will dictate what my comeback looks like. It sure is rare to see a 40 year old back on tour after so much time. It is important that I am free of pain. I'm curious to see how it plays out,'' Federer acknowledged. Unfortunately, tournaments are played behind the closed doors or with a limited number of crowd.
''In early rounds it won't make a huge difference, but when it comes to the crunch, quarters and on, you play for titles... I feel it's going to be strange, you play for so much, but in front of nobody. At this moment I am just happy to be playing again,'' Federer said, per Sasa Ozmo.