ROGER FEDERER : After over a year out due to injury, will make tennis comeback in March in Doha

FROM : https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/02/tennis/roger-federer-doha-comeback-spt-intl/index.html By Aleks Klosok and John Sinnott, CNN Updated 1423 GMT (2223 HKT) February 2, 2021 (CNN)Roger Federer will make his long-awaited return to tennis following double knee surgery at an ATP tournament in Doha, Qatar in March, his agent has confirmed to CNN Sport.

The 39-year-old, who is level with Spain's Rafa Nadal on 20 grand slam titles, has not played a competitive match since losing to Novak Djokovic in least year's Australian Open semifinals. Australian Open organisers announced in December that Federer would be missing the 2021 edition of the grand slam -- the first time the Swiss hasn't played the main Melbourne tournament since losing in the qualifying event in 1999. The Qatar ExxonMobil Open is scheduled takes place between March 8-13. It's a tournament Federer has won on three previous occasions in 2005, 2006 and 2011.

Rafael Nadal calls for 'wider perspective' from players in quarantine ahead of the Australian Open

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/26/tennis/rafa-nadal-australian-open-covid-federer-spt-int/index.html By Christiane Amanpour and Ben Church, CNN Updated 1953 GMT (0353 HKT) January 26, 2021 (CNN)Rafael Nadal says he feels "privileged" to be playing in this year's Australian Open as he called on his fellow stars to have a "wider perspective" on the mandatory quarantine period ahead of the tournament. The Spaniard, like every competitor from overseas, is having to isolate with his support team for two weeks after arriving in Australia, with practice time limited to only a few hours a day. He's doing so in Adelaide, with a number of other high-profile stars including Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic.

However, following a number of positive Covid-19 tests on chartered flights into Melbourne, Nadal's experience has been different from the 72 players not allowed to leave their hotel rooms for the duration of the isolation in the city which will host the first grand slam of the season. A number of competitors in Melbourne under strict quarantine have complained about their situation and lack of practice time ahead of the tournament. It has also raised questions among some as to whether those in Adelaide are getting preferential treatment. Whilst Nadal appreciates the situation is far from ideal, especially for those under tighter restrictions in Melbourne, he urged players to have a "wider perspective." "I feel very sorry for all of them but when we came here, we knew that the measures were going to be strict because we knew that the country is doing great with the pandemic," Nadal told CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday "It's normal to complain [...] but on the other hand you see how many are dying around the world. You see how many people are losing their father, their mum, without having the chance to say goodbye. "It's a real thing, not a philosophical thing, that's real life. That's what's happening in my country. Close people to me are suffering this situation." Australia has recorded 28,777 Covid-19 cases to date, with 909 virus related deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University. Meanwhile, Spain has had 2,593,382 confirmed cases with 56,208 deaths. READ: Tennis great Margaret Court says she's not been invited to Australian Open