Roger Federer’s eye-catching move ahead of return

Roger Federer was spotted watching on from the stands as Dan Evans set up a second-round clash with the Swiss legend in Qatar.

Evans will meet Federer in the 20-time grand slam champion’s first match of his comeback after a fighting win over Jeremy Chardy on Tuesday.

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Federer, who had a bye through to the second round, is playing in his first tournament in Doha since last year’s Australian Open after two knee operations.

He has been training with Evans in Dubai in preparation for his return to the tour and the top-ranked Brit will get the chance to use that inside knowledge in the second round clash.

Evans was playing his first match since an opening-round loss at the Australian Open and had to dig deep to claim a 6-4 1-6 6-2 victory over in-form Frenchman Chardy.

The World No.28 defeated Chardy comfortably on the way to his first ATP Tour title at the Murray River Open in Melbourne last month.

But Chardy arrived in Doha high on confidence after a run to the quarter-finals in Rotterdam last week.

Chardy broke Evans in the first set at the 14th time of asking, and with Federer watching from the stands won the second set easily.

But Evans surged into a 3-0 lead in the deciding set and, as Chardy began to struggle physically, he ensured there were no further twists.

“It was a difficult match … Happy to come through in the third set,” Evans said.

“It’s going to be a great atmosphere, great to come out and play Roger.

“Always good to play someone as good as him and see where my skills are.”

Dan Evans ready for Roger Federer clash

Addressing the fact Federer was watching from the stands, Evans said: “He’s obviously seen a lot of my game the last few weeks.

“So it was probably more out of boredom rather than scouting out what’s on the court.”

Discussing his return to the ATP tour on Monday, Federer accepted he’s still a work in progress but added that he hoped to be “100 per cent” by the time Wimbledon came around.

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“I’m very happy to be back playing a tournament again. It’s been a long time. I never thought it would take this long,” Federer said.

Asked whether he’d considered his future while being sidelined, he added: “Retirement was never really on the cards.

“I think it’s more of a conversation if the knee keeps bothering me for months and months – then let’s look at it.

“This is not the time to think about that…let’s say in the fall of this year.

“I just feel like the story is not over. It’s not like there’s one particular reason that I wanted to keep playing tennis other than I enjoyed playing tennis, I enjoy being on the road.

“I’m still a work in progress but probably one of the other reasons for coming back is I want to get that high again of playing against the biggest players and in the biggest tournaments and hopefully winning them again.”

with AAP

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