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‘I still need six weeks fitness,’ admits Roger Federer as he withdraws from Dubai


Roger Federer has confirmed he will not take part in the Dubai Duty Free Championships next week following his elimination from Qatar.

Federer played his first competitive tennis in over 400 days in Doha this week, beating Dan Evans before losing to world number 42 Nikoloz Basilashvili in the quarterfinal.

However, despite what he considers to be a very positive comeback, he has decided to concentrate on building his fitness on the practice court instead before the clay season.

“It’s been great to be back on the ATP Tour,” Federer tweeted. “I loved every minute playing in Doha once again.

“A big thank you to the best and loyal team that helped me get here.

“I’ve decided it’s best to go back to training and as a result, I’ve decided to withdraw from Dubai next week.

“I still need another five, six weeks in fitness, probably a little bit more down the road.

“So in those next four months until Wimbledon, I think we’ve just got to take a real good look at the schedule and see when we do the fitness, the rehab and tennis.”


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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.