Roger Federer is always welcomed in Rotterdam, says tournament director

The 20-time Major champion Roger Federer has stayed away from the court since the last year's Australian Open, undergoing two knee surgeries and working on a comeback in Dubai.

Following the second knee surgery in May, Roger decided to stay away from the official matches in 2020, focusing on 2021. Federer had hit the practice court in October and moved to Dubai a few weeks ago with his coach Ivan Ljubicic, doing his best to get back at 100% ahead of the Australian Open but having to skip the season's first Major from February 8.

Roger should return in March, with many tournaments hoping to welcome one of the biggest tennis stars. Rotterdam is among them, with the ATP 500 indoor event taking place in March's first week.

The tournament director Richard Krajicek will wait for Roger's call until the last moment, hoping that the Swiss will pick the European destination ahead of possible trips to Doha and Dubai. Federer is a three-time Rotterdam champion, winning the most recent title in 2018 when he became world no. 1 again at 36!

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"Roger Federer knows that he is always welcome in Rotterdam. Usually, with the Big 3, you wait for the manager to contact you to indicate that they want to play. But I can drop an email just in case. We are all hoping that Roger can recover by March 1 and embrace the less demanding best-of-three matches. After Rotterdam, Roger can also play in Doha and Dubai and make a nice schedule," Richard Krajicek said.