Roger Federer had not played a match in more than 13 months. Based on his performance at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Wednesday, it was like he never left.
Federer came out top of a high-quality thriller against Dan Evans, triumphing 7-6(8), 3-6, 7-5 after two hours and 25 minutes to book his spot in the Doha quarterfinals.
It was dramatic from start to finish–and not just because it was Roger Federer on a tennis court for the first time since the 2020 Australian Open. The first set did not see a single break of serve, with Federer saving one break point at 4-4. In the tiebreaker, the two competitors traded mini-breaks on multiple occasions. Federer seized an early mini-break lead, Evans went ahead by a mini-break midway through it, Federer took another lead late, it was back on serve at 8-8, and the Swiss finally took the last two points to clinch it.
In the second set, one break–which came at 2-1–was enough for Evans to level the contest. Federer earned a break point in two different games, but he could not convert.
That set the stage for a thrilling decider. The current world No. 6 crucially fought off two break points at 3-3, which eventually put him on the brink of victory in the 10th game. Serving to stay alive, Evans survived three deuces–and one match point with a perfect serve-and-volley tactic–to hold for 5-5. At 5-6, however, the Brit finally cracked. A couple of errors put him in another match-point hole, and this time Federer converted in classic fashion with a blistering backhand winner.
“It feels great to be back; I’m happy regardless of if I won or lost, but winning is obviously better,” the 20-time Grand Slam champion said on court afterward. “It was a great match. Dan played a good match, too. He’s been a wonderful training partner for me. In the last two weeks we’ve played over 20 sets. It was great fun.
“I was tired at the end. I just said, ‘If I’m going to go out, I’m going to go out swinging.’ Dan had more energy left at the end…. I thought I played a really, really good match, so I’m incredibly happy about my performance. It was a pleasure to share the court with Dan. It was nice to finish with a backhand down the line on match point, of course.”
Such a backhand was a sight tennis fans had not seen for more than a year, in part due to the Covid-19 pandemic but mainly because Federer underwent multiple knee procedures in 2020. He had hoped to be back for the Aussie Open this year, but the knee was not quite ready.
On Wednesday, Federer’s return was worth the wait.
“I hope tonight was a bit of an uplift from everything going on in the world,” he told the crowd.
It’s safe to say it was.
nice one, Fed