By Richard Pagliaro
Roger Federer will play a familiar face in his Doha return next week.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion will face either Jeremy Chardy, who reached the Rotterdam quarterfinals, or Briton Dan Evans in Doha. Evans beat Borna Coric, Chardy and Felix Auger-Aliassme in succession to win his first career ATP title at the Murray River Open in Melbourne this year.
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It will be Federer's first match in 13 months since he lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2020 Australian Open semifinals.
The 39-year-old Swiss superstar has practice with both men and knows their games well. Federer has won four of five meetings vs. the 34-year-old Chardy and is 3-0 lifetime vs. Evans winning all nine sets in Grand Slam play.
If seeds hold true to form it's a challenging return for Federer, who could play Rotterdam semifinalist Borna Coric in the semifinals. Coric surprised Federer on grass winning the 2018 Halle title and ending the Swiss' most recent run at No. 1.
Federer will be making his first appearance in Doha since 2012. The winner of 103 career championships, Federer owns a 26-3 record in Doha, including title runs in 2005, 2006 and 2011.
Before departure to Doha, Federer taped this video message sharing his state of mind ahead of his return.
"It's been a year since I last traveled to any event," a masked Federer said. "And I can tell you I'm very excited. And it's maybe also a moment where I can maybe thank the people involved who made this possible.
"It's been a long and hard road. I know I'm not at the finish line yet, but it's good."
"I feel like I'm in a good place," Federer said. "I've been practicing very well and just really pumped up. I hope you guys are gonna tune in to watch it and hopefully I'll see you soon. Take care everybody."
The father of two sets of twins underwent a pair of arthroscopic knee surgeries last year. Federer's trainer, Pierre Paganini, told Swiss journalist Rene Stouffer Federer has been practicing at almost full strength in recent weeks.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve