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Roger Federer had not spent five weeks at home since his 2016 knee operation, so this confinement has served him, at least, to enjoy family life. The Swiss portends a rather dark short-term future for tennis, so, he admitted on Friday, he is not even working for a hypothetical return in 2020.

"I'm not training because I don't see a reason for it," he admitted in an informal chat with Gustavo Kuerten , collected by Globo Esporte. "I feel good physically and I still see the lap of the circuit very far. At this moment it is important for my head to enjoy the rest after so much activity over the years," he added.

The plans for number four in the ranking contrast with those of Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal , who in recent days have already started preparing for a hypothetical return. The 'number one' exercises at the Puente Romano Tennis Club (Marbella), while the 12-time champion of Roland Garros gave his first blows in Manacor on Thursday at the facilities of his Academy.

"I don't miss him that much"

Federer's technical team, with Ivan Ljubicic and Severin Luthi at the helm, had to remove from the agenda Wimbledon and the Tokyo Games, the two great objectives for 2020. So the immediate objective is to draw a new routine sheet for a legend that next August 8 will be 39 years old.

"I don't miss tennis that much," said Federer during the video conference with Kuerten, an old friend against whom he lost in two of his three duels, between 2002 and 2004.

When Guga asked him about the possibility of playing on a court without an audience in the stands, the Basel genius was blunt: "I can't imagine myself in an empty stadium and I hope that never happens," he said. "Of course it is possible to play without fans, but I hope tennis will return as it always was. Also, we can wait for the right moment," endorsed the 20-time Grand Slam champion.

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