Roger Federer said he “couldn’t care less about the outcome” after winning his first match in over a year on Wednesday as he returned from injury to beat Britain’s Dan Evans at the Qatar Open.
The 39-year-old, who underwent two knee surgeries in 2020, said “it felt great to be out there again... it will give me a lot of answers”.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how I feel tomorrow,” he added following his epic two hours and 24 minutes 7-6 (10/8), 3-6, 7-5 victory over the in-form British number one.
Highlights and report: Roger Federer vs Dan Evans
The 20-time Grand Slam title winner had not played a match since a semi-final defeat by Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open in January 2020 – 405 days ago – and acknowledged it was unusual for a player of his age to return after injury.
“I was very happy with how I was able to handle the tough moments, I didn’t think my game started to wobble,” he said.
Here’s a look at some reactions to his comeback win:
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