Former World No. 1 Roger Federer is going to make a comeback to the men’s Tour after over a year. He spent time on the sidelines due to the injury he suffered on his knee. His last tournament was the Australian Open 2020, where he lost to Novak Djokovic in the semifinal. 

Recently, Federer’s trainer Pierre Paganini compared the two different stints of his return to the Tour. In 2016, the former World No. 1 took a break after Wimbledon and returned to play his first Grand Slam after the break at the Australian Open 2017. Roger lifted his 17th Grand Slam title by winning the Major in Melbourne. 

Pierre Paganini: “[Roger Federer’s] muscles degraded greatly”

However, things are different for the Swiss ace this time. Paganini compared his current scenario with his comeback in 2017 and stated, “The big difference is: When he paused to Wimbledon in 2016 to Australia, he was actually always there muscularly. Now we had a total interruption in which the muscles degraded greatly.” 

(Quotes have been translated with Google Translate)

Pierre indicated that Federer’s muscles weren’t the same as they were back in 2017 and that they were not in favorable condition. This isn’t a positive sign for the eight-time Wimbledon champion as he returns to Tour soon. 

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Roger’s trainer Pierre further added, “There was a long time between the first operation and the moment in July when we said we could slowly start working progressively again. His muscles were no longer in the state condition at all, the imbalances were extreme.”

The Swiss superstar will be back in action after more than a year. He will be competing at ATP Doha 2021, which will be held from March 8 to 13. 

Also Read: “Focus All My Attention on Slams”: Novak Djokovic Sets His Sight on Federer and Nadal’s Record