Roger Federer: 'It usually takes place between French Open and Wimbledon and...'

• Tennis News
• Roger Federer

Roger Federer thinks about it and gives up on the Dubai tournament, scheduled for next week. The decision came after the elimination in the quarter-finals of Doha against the Georgian Basilashvili: "It was fantastic to return to play in the ATP Tour - wrote the Swiss champion on Instagram, returning after a year of stoppage due to knee operations -, I loved every minute I spent playing Doha again.

A big thank you to the best and most loyal team in the world who helped me get here. I have decided that it is better to go back to training and, consequently, I have decided to withdraw from Dubai next week». Another who has given up in Dubai is Matteo Berrettini, still struggling with the tear in the abdominals.

He should be back in the Miami tournament. During the interaction with the Arab sports channel, Roger Federer was asked about the possibility of attending the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Although he is a big football fan (and an avid supporter of his home team FC Basel in particular), Federer replied that he wasn't sure about attending the event as it would interrupt his tennis tour activity.

Roger Federer on the possibility of attending the 2022 FIFA World Cup

"I've never been to a World Cup," Roger Federer said. "It usually takes place between French Open and Wimbledon, and Wimbledon has always been so important to me." But his concern about Wimbledon 2022 would be good news for his fans, as it suggests he is planning on playing a full season after the current one.

"I will go to the World Cup when I am retired," Federer added, giving another hint that he's not planning on retiring any time soon. Federer did count some positives from an unsuccessful comeback campaign while adding that there was still some ground to cover to reach the desired level of fitness and form ahead of the grass-court season.

In an interaction with reporters after Thursday’s loss, the former World Number 1 said that there were moments in the two rounds he played in Qatar where he realized that he was “not at 100 percent yet”.

However, he added that he was happy to have come out unscathed from two back-to-back comeback matches, and he will now take the gains to build himself to the level he aspires to as Wimbledon draws near. “I come from so far away that I’m actually happy that I was able to play back-to-back, three-set matches against top players,” Federer said, calling it an “important step forward” for himself.