Roger Federer declared himself ready on Monday to kick off the new season at next week’s Australian Open despite having played no competitive match since November.
The 20-time Grand Slam winner was scheduled to warm up for the year’s first Major at the inaugural ATP Cup in Australia but withdrew to spend more time with his family.
Federer, 38, said he was happy with his preparation at home. “I’ve trained long and hard in the off-season and I didn’t have any setbacks, which is crucial,” Federer said at a promotional.
“Last week I was asking myself if I am I happy to go to Australia...“I could easily just stay home and I was like, ‘no, no, I’m really happy to go to Melbourne and kick off the season there’.
“I have kept myself in good shape. Obviously, I had an amazing team around me.”
A six-time winner at Melbourne Park, Federer won the Australian Open title in 2017 and 2018 but lost to Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round last year.
Novak Djokovic went on to win a record seventh Australian Open title in 2019 and looks in perfect shape to add another after his ninth consecutive hard-court win over world No. 1 Rafa Nadal on Sunday as Serbia were crowned champions at the ATP Cup.
Nadal has also shown no sign of trouble with his game or his fitness.
“I’m aware that at 38 I shouldn’t be the favourite. It should be someone probably in their 20s, but the three of us have been able to stay as the favourites which is great for us,” Federer said.
