Doha (AFP)

"I might not have the resources yet": the return of Roger Federer after thirteen months of absence and two operations was aborted in his second match in Doha on Thursday against Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili, but the Swiss noted a lot of positive.

The world No.6, who will be 40 years old in August, was obviously not recovered from his first match the day before against Daniel Evans who had forced him to fight three sets and 2:24.

Thursday, he lost 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 in front of the 42nd in the world.

"I've come from so far back that I'm happy to have been able to play two games back to back in three sets. I'm not 100% yet, I see it, I feel it. But the goal is to be 100% for the grass season, ”he commented.

For starters, he must decide "within 24 hours" if he lines up in Dubai next week.

After confidently winning the first round, Federer lost his footing in the second.

Committing too many faults, dominated in the exchange, he allowed Basilashvili to return to the game.

In the third set, the Swiss first dismissed several break points at 3-3 then he obtained a match point at 5-4 on the opposing service.

But unlike the day before against Evans where he had significantly increased his level of play and risk taking at the end of the third set, Federer seemed unable to face Basilashvili.

- "Lack of pep" -

"I lack a bit of pep," he admitted, stressing with satisfaction that his knee had held up perfectly, especially in service.

"I did the right things, maybe not at the highest level, maybe I didn't have the resources yet, but the intentions were the right ones. And that's good," he said. -He insists.

Because it is the Georgian who took the face-off from his opponent to lead 6-5 and serve for the match.

He got three match points and finished on the third.

"It's incredible, he's one of the greatest players of all time. It meant so much to me to play him, he has always been my idol," said Basilashvili, who will face the American Taylor Fritz on Friday ( 33rd) for a place in the final.

After his semi-final of the Australian Open in January 2020 (lost to Novak Djokovic) and an exhibition match in early February against Rafael Nadal in South Africa, Federer decided to undergo arthroscopy in his right knee which had bothered him since. several years already.

The suspension of the circuit, a more complicated recovery than expected and a second arthroscopy of the same knee in May led him to cut completely from the competition until Wednesday.

- "Positive balance" -

“The results are quite positive, he said Thursday evening. The strengths of Basilashvili are completely different from those of Evans and this is where you realize how difficult tennis is. to beat one type of player, but then you have to beat all types of players on all surfaces, at different altitudes, with different balls ... ", he commented.

The first player to land twenty Grand Slam titles (he has since been joined by Rafael Nadal) appeared full of enthusiasm in Doha.

"Tennis is like cycling: I know how to do it," he assured at a press conference before the start of the tournament, explaining that his only uncertainty concerned the response of his knee to the sequence of matches.

In 2017, he returned to competition after six months off for arthroscopy of his left knee.

Upon his return, he had won the Australian Open, his first major title in nearly five years, the 18th of his career.

This coronation, when he had fallen back to 17th in the world, had completely revived the Swiss who had risen the following year to the top of the world hierarchy and then added two more Grand Slam titles to his list (Wimbledon 2017 and Australia 2018).

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