Tennis news - Roger Federer to face Dan Evans after Briton beats Jeremy Chardy in Qatar
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Published 09/03/2021 at 18:01 GMT
Roger Federer now knows the name of his first opponent in 2021, and the first player he will face since his two knee injuries and extended time away from competitive tennis due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Swiss veteran will play Britain's Dan Evans, who beat Jeremy Chardy in the first round of the Doha Open.
Dan Evans in Doha
Image credit: Getty Images
Britain’s Dan Evans will face Roger Federer at the Qatar open after beating Jeremy Chardy in their first round match.
Evans won 6-4 1-6 6-2 in Doha and will be Federer’s first opponent of 2021 after he missed much of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and two knee surgeries.
The 39-year-old Swiss and 30-year-old Briton have been practising together as part of Federer’s comeback preparations.
"I got to practise the last two weeks - I thought he was playing pretty well, we played plenty of sets," said Evans.
It was competitive, but it's all very different when you get on the match court.
Federer was in attendance to watch Evans’ match.
"He's obviously seen a lot of my game the last few weeks so I would say it was more out of boredom," observed Evans.
"He was probably waiting for his practice, rather than scouting out what's happening on the court.
"Some days we practised for three hours, other days we practised for an hour and a half. It's been good to get some good practice. It's unfortunate that I'm in his part of the draw this week, but moving forward it's a good little block I put together."
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