TENNIS | Federer falls to 42nd in the world and says goodbye to Doha

Fleeting. So was Roger Federer's return to the circuit. Nikoloz Basilashvili (42nd in the world) stopped the Swiss (3-6, 6-1 and 7-5 in 1h: 50) in his second match at the ATP 250 in Doha. The 20 Grand Champion returned to the competition on Wednesday after 405 days standing and he said goodbye with only one victory, worked, against Dan Evans. Poor staging.

To Roger Federer, for whom playing tennis is “like riding a bicycle” and that is not forgotten, kilometers missing to get before a Tour. Doha was presented almost like a medical exam to see how his right knee would respond, the one that suffered two operations and must sustain on the brink of 40 years (it meets in August) its assault on Wimbledon and the Tokyo Games this year. And the physicist seemed to take its toll on him.

At the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, in front of 1,000 privileged, Federer dominated Basilashvili, a cold puncher, in the first set. But the Georgian did not take three break balls and it was seen where the shots could go.

Federer, unsure when he should stick his right leg out to hit the drive, He lowered his level a lot at the same time that Basilashvili understood that if he managed to extend the points he would put Basel in trouble. The second set also came with gaps in the Swiss serve (only 25% of points won with seconds) and let his rival enter the game.

At the trantran, Federer scanned and trusted a tie-break where he could put his experience to good use when a match ball was found to the rest at 5-4. Did not take advantage of it and also gave the break below. He invited Basilashvili to pull the trigger and he hit one of the greats. He will play the semifinal against American Taylor Fritz (33rd, 23 years old), who beat Denis Shapovalov 5-7, 6-3 and 7-5.

The Swiss, however, took the iron away from his premature goodbye. I was counting on him. “It is an important step for me (to play in Doha), because I am not yet one hundred percent. But it is on the grass when I want to be. Therefore, it is a very easy defeat to digest, “he said. Now, he must decide whether to play next week in Dubai. Miami is out. And, he said, it will be very likely to see him on the ground of the European campaign.