ATP Basel: Roger Federer confirms he will play the tournament next fall

This time, for sure: the ultimate comeback seems to be on the way. A few days after sharing videos of his indoor physical rehabilitation work, Roger Federer put a first official tournament on the ATP Tour on his recovery schedule on Tuesday. The 40-year-old Swiss champion will play the ATP 500 in Basel, his hometown, in the fall (October 24-30), an event which is making a comeback in 2022 after having seen its last two editions canceled.

During his last speeches, Federer had considered that he would probably not return to competition before the end of the summer. This formalization therefore confirms the trend: the man with 103 titles does not want to rush anything and has only entered competitions that he will be sure to be able to compete in. We should thus find him a month earlier at the O2 Arena in London for the next edition of the Laver Cup (September 23-25) where a double with his old rival Rafael Nadal is announced.

Absent from the courts since July 2021

This announcement is undeniably good news regarding the evolution of the injury of Federer who has not been seen on a competitive court since his loss in the Wimbledon quarter-final against Hubert Hurkacz in July 2021. One month later , the Basel announced that he had undergone his third operation on his right knee. He then appeared on crutches in Boston to attend the Laver Cup.

The Swiss has since embarked on a slow but seemingly productive re-education and re-athletics, insisting it would be unlikely to see him return to Wimbledon, the Grand Slam where he enjoyed the most success. That doesn’t mean Federer won’t add more tournaments to his schedule before the Laver Cup in the coming months, though. Everything will depend on his progress and his resistance to training sessions which should be more and more intensive from now on.