Paris (AFP)

More than 400 days separate him from his last match.

After thirteen months without competition and two operations on his right knee, Roger Federer, soon to be forty, is making his comeback at the Doha tournament, which begins on Monday.

"I'm very happy to be playing a tournament again, it's been a long time !," said Federer for his first press conference in over a year on Sunday. "I never imagined it would take so long."

"I know it's unusual to see an almost 40-year-old come back after a year of absence," he smiles.

But "the important thing is that I have no injury or pain."

“I still have something in me, it was never really about retirement, assures the Swiss legend. It would become more of a subject if my knee continued to bother me for months and months. now is not the time to think about that. "

"I feel that the story is not over yet, I do not know how to explain it. I like to play tennis, to be on the circuit," he insists.

Federer's last match dates back to January 30, 2020, in the semi-final of the Australian Open against Novak Djokovic.

Chance of the calendar, his return to the circuit comes the very week in which the Serb dispossesses him of the record for the greatest number of weeks spent in first place in the world (311 against 310).

- Chardy or Evans to start -

On a court, his last public outing was on February 7, 2020, during a charity event with Rafael Nadal in Cape Town (South Africa) in front of nearly 52,000 spectators, unprecedented for a tennis match.

Then he had to undergo two arthroscopies of his right knee in quick succession, in February and May.

If the Balois has fed the countdown on social networks for a week, the ATP has adopted a special hashtag #RogerReturns for the occasion.

It must be said that in more than twenty years of career, Federer has never known such a long break.

His longest break before, six months between July 2016 and January 2017, had followed a first arthroscopy undergone in February 2016, this one in the left knee.

It was particularly successful for him, since he had triumphed at the Australian Open upon his return, then at Wimbledon six months later.

At nearly forty years old - he will celebrate them on August 8 - how will he respond this time?

All the more so in a restrictive context of tennis under a pandemic which has hitherto been unknown to him.

His Qatari week will provide him with the first elements of an answer.

Federer, now world No.6, will launch it against the French in form Jérémy Chardy (64th) or the Briton Dan Evans (28th), Wednesday at the earliest.

Two other Top 10, Dominic Thiem (4th) and Andrey Rublev (8th), plus four Top 20 (Shapovalov and Wawrinka in particular), accompany him in the table.

- "Surprise" -

"My expectations are very low. But I hope to be able to surprise myself, and perhaps surprise others," considers the Swiss.

"The only worry I have is will the knee hold? For now, I'm not sure," he said.

But "clearly I'm confident, otherwise I wouldn't put myself in this position here," adds the eight-time Wimbledon winner.

"I'm sure over time, provided his body is okay, he will perform at the highest level. Even if he is slightly less well physically, I would bet on his talent against most of the players," Andy said. Murray, who knows the injury department.

The Swiss with twenty Grand Slam trophies - like his great rival Rafael Nadal now - but who is still chasing Olympic gold in singles, does not return without ambition.

"I still want to get big headlines," he told Swiss radio SRF in early February.

After Doha, Federer entered Dubai the following week, but not Miami, the first Masters 1000 of the season, at the end of the month.

"I hope to get to Wimbledon 100%," he says, adding that "he really does not yet know what (his) season on clay might look like".

"I am still rebuilding myself to be stronger, faster, better, says Federer. I will have a lot more information after Doha."

© 2021 AFP