Roger Federer has reiterated that he faces a “tight” race to be fit for the Australian Open in 2021.
The Swiss tennis legend has not played the sport since January, having needed two operations on a knee injury.
The Australian Open will likely start on the 8th February 2021 having been delayed for three weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I would have hoped that I would be 100% in October. But I am still not today. Let’s see how the next two months will unfold,” the 20-time Grand Slam champion said.
Federer last competed in the Australian Open this year and lost to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals at Melbourne Park.
In February, Federer who had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee announced plans to return to action in time for Wimbledon, planned for July before being cancelled.
He had another operation after a setback during his rehabilitation.
“The second knee operation was a huge dampener, but in the last six months there has been steady progress,” Federer said during an awards ceremony in Switzerland.
“Let’s see how the next two months will unfold. I’ve been doing a lot of physio and physical work lately, now let’s see how tennis is doing.
“It will be tight for the Australian Open.”
The Australian Open often raise the curtain on the tennis season and the 2021 tournament would have kickstarted on the 18th January 2021 in Melbourne.
However, Covid-19 quarantine rules mean players are unlikely to be allowed to enter the state of Victoria until the end of December at the earliest with an announcement confirming the tournament pushed back to 8 February expected in the near future.
He’ll be fine