ATP Doha: Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem - hard work against difficult opening hurdles
Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem had to work hard for their opening wins at the ATP 250 event in Doha. The two favorites also faced very difficult tasks in the desert city.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Mar 10, 2021, 09:28 pm
The wait came to an end at almost exactly 4:23 p.m. Almost the entire tennis world looked to Doha that Wednesday afternoon, where a very special second-round duel should be on the program at an ATP 250 event. Nobody less than Roger Federer, a 20-time Grand Slam champion, had chosen the capital of Qatar to return to the ATP tour after more than 400 days.
And how to return. In his second round duel against Dan Evans, the Swiss presented himself, especially when serving, as if he had never been away at all. Of course, the 39-year-old made an above-average number of errors with the forehand. And of course it was a few percent less pressure that reached the other side of the network than you are used to from the world number six.
Federer with longer breath
And yet it should be enough for the now 39-year-old veteran to win. For a win against a player who recently had strong exclamation marks on the ATP tour, was able to win his first title at the start of the year and is now ranked 28th in the ATP charts. Mind you, after a break of 405 days.
Federer was accordingly satisfied after his success over the British: "I'm incredibly happy with my level. It's great to end the match with a backhand winner down the line. I feel good. It was a long one and hard way. It is a big challenge to make a comeback at my age. But I have a great team around me, "said the 39-year-old in an on-court interview.
It is now decisive how he is doing this Thursday, how deeply the duel with Evans is in his bones. "It was a long and hard journey for me, but I still enjoyed it," said Federer, whose comeback was eagerly awaited by a man who also won his opening match on Wednesday: Austrian Dominic Thiem.
Thiem: "Love to see him play"
The number one of the tournament had to defuse the newly minted Australian Open semi-finalist Aslan Karatsev in the round of 16 - and even make up a set deficit. In addition, plagued by slight physical complaints, the 27-year-old kept holding his right foot, but the US Open champion managed the turn-around and won the quarter-final ticket with an impressively solid performance in sets two and three.
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Despite his obligations on the tennis court, Thiem also gave the comeback of Roger Federer some space on this memorable Wednesday in Doha, as the Austrian was supposed to reveal in an on-court interview: "Every tennis player, including myself, is a fan of Federer. I love to see him play, to learn from him. I'll try to see something live. "