Roger Federer will play his first match since undergoing two knee surgeries when he faces Dan Evans in Doha on Wednesday.
The 20-time major champion last played over a year ago when he lost to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the 2020 Australian Open.
Federer is ranked sixth in the world due to the COVID-adjusted ATP rankings system, which still carries some points from 2019.
As the second seed at the ATP 250 event in Doha, the 39-year-old Swiss received a bye to the second round.
World No. 28 Evans defeated the in-form Jeremy Chardy in three sets in the opening round.
The 30-year-old Brit was up a break and in command in the deciding set when Chardy appeared to suffer a muscle injury in his left leg.
Evans started 2021 by winning his only ATP title to date at the Murray River Open ATP 250 in Melbourne – without dropping a set.
Head-to-head
This will be a fourth career meeting between the pair (not including Hopman Cup). Federer won the previous three – which were all at Grand Slams – in straight sets.
The first came at Wimbledon in 2016, while the other two came more recently on hard courts in 2019 – at the Australian Open and the US Open.
