The inside story of Roger Federer's latest comeback: Wall tennis, a bromance with Dan Evans and 'loving' rehab

Roger Federer has lived through 404 days, and two keyhole operations, since his last competitive tennis match.

The recovery has been long and draining, but – as ever with Federer – successfully accomplished. So, as he prepares for his return match on Wednesday, how exactly did he prepare himself for his latest comeback at the age of 39?

Loving rehab

If there is one thing any athlete hates, it is rehab. At least, that is true for the vast majority. But not, apparently, for Federer.

While describing his time away on Sunday, he struck a typically upbeat note. "I am just really happy that I have made the long and hard road with my physios, my doctors, my coaches, and my fitness trainers,” Federer said. “Because in a way I have enjoyed it. I don’t mind doing rehab for them. They are impressed by me how I go about it.”

That final sentence sent the Fed-ometer spinning. It comes from the same school as his 2011 comment about visiting Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium: “I met the players; they were extremely happy.” A friend of mine jots down these not-so-humblebrags in a notebook, which must be spilling over by now.

But this is all part of the Federer picture. The other side of his perpetually sunny demeanour is a lack of false modesty; an open acknowledgement that he is the star in any given situation.

His lack of self-doubt is a talent in itself – and one that has surely helped to extend his career beyond its natural span. Were he living in the middle-ages, the villagers might have thrown him in the mill-pond by now, just to see if he floated.

Federer’s serenity surely helped him last year. Especially when he encountered a crisis in the spring, some six weeks after the first operation. Until that moment, progress had been encouraging. But then, out of nowhere, simple walks or bike rides with his children started to make his knee swell up. At this point, even the happy prince felt deflated.

“Obvously I was down,” said Federer, during Sunday’s video conference from Doha. “I couldn’t believe I had to do a second [operation].” But the prognosis was clear. He would need another arthroscopy.

Anyone else would have considered retirement at this point. For Federer, though, “It was never really on the cards. I feel that there’s still something left.” He returned to the operating table in early summer, setting the rehab clock back to zero, and went through the whole tedious business again.

Now, as he prepares for a return that has been delayed by the best part of a year, Federer is still offering a positive take on his lost season. “It was a challenge. I like challenges.”

Training with Evo

Federer should be well acclimatised to conditions in Doha. He has spent much of the last fortnight at his second home in Dubai, training with British No 1 Dan “Evo” Evans.

Why did Federer invite Evans to Dubai? Probably because they got on well during a previous training block, held in Switzerland two years ago. Evans’s chat is quirky and fun; so is his old-fashioned, slice-heavy game – in which Federer might recognise a kindred spirit. A film of their most recent training session has gone up on YouTube; you can see Federer grinning after one particularly cheeky drop-shot.

“He was so down to earth,” said Evans of Federer, after returning from that all-expenses-paid trip to Switzerland. “It was a bit surreal sometimes how we ate lunch and stuff – he didn’t hide away or anything, and he didn’t change his day because people were going to come up to him. We went to a golf club for lunch, we went to a pretty average tennis club for lunch as well. So it was just normal.”

The supreme Swiss and the artful dodger from Solihull: they certainly make an odd couple. And thanks to a quirk of the draw, they will be back on court together on Wednesday, this time in earnest. (As Doha’s second seed, Federer received a first-round bye, whereas Evans scored a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 win over Frenchman Jeremy Chardy on Tuesday afternoon.)

“It has been nice to see his game,” said Evans of Federer, who also mentioned the “good banter” they had shared together during their training block. “Obviously it does help that I have been able to see it, but, you know, it's still going to be a difficult task.”

These early tournaments are only sighters in any case. Federer’s targets are on loftier prizes – notably Wimbledon. “It’s still building up to being stronger, better, fitter, faster, all that stuff,” he said on Sunday. “For me, everything starts hopefully with the grass.”

Keeping it light

Federer is an uncommonly gifted man – and he knows it. Some people find him insufferably smug as a result, but a larger number are inspired by his gale-force optimism and positivity.

Why is this relevant today? Because it keeps him young. Federer has a rare ability to sail untroubled through life’s waters. An ability which isn’t shared by every wealthy celebrity, nor every great athlete.

Unlike so many tennis players – who are starved of social contact in their teenage years – Federer can adapt to any situation. When hosting a formal function, he puts his fans at ease more skilfully than any politician. Equally, though, he loves a prank. Last year, Melbourne’s security cameras spotted him hiding behind a pillar, then jumping out at his coaches with a roar.

So even as he approaches his 40th birthday, on August 8, he retains the same bouncy enthusiasm that he brought to Wimbledon 20 years ago. It’s almost uncanny: but for the removal of his bushy brown ponytail, the man has barely changed.

Look at the Instagram video Federer posted last spring, shortly after the pandemic began to bite. He was still early in his first rehab sequence then, and the snow was thick on the ground in the Swiss village of Valbella.

But he emerged from his house, wearing a thick woolly hat and grinning like a cherub. “Hey guys,” he said, as he started bunting a ball against a wall. “I just wanted to show you a little glimpse of how I’m practising at home, like in the old days. Maybe even working on the trick shot.”

For Federer, more than any of his contemporaries, tennis has never been a chore.

Waiting for a crowd

Even for those who escaped serious illness, the pandemic has drained the joy out of daily life. So it seems fitting that Federer – the sport’s great entertainer – should have left the stage shortly before Covid-19 became ubiquitous.

The disease has delayed his return by a couple of months. Had everything been running as normal, he would probably have targeted February’s Australian Open for his comeback. After all, that’s what he did after having the opposite knee patched up, in 2017. And the result was a first major title for five years.

In this instance, though, Federer declined the invite. It was Australia’s insistence on two weeks of quarantine that made up his mind. “Dude, 39, four kids, 20 grand slams,” he told Andre Sa, the tournament’s director of player services. “I am no longer in time to be away from my family for five weeks.”

Some believe that Federer is not suited for this tennis half-life; that he is too used to playing in front of packed stands. But it would only take a smattering of fans, he said on Sunday, to lift his mood. “Even if it’s just 100 people – like playing music in a little bar with 100 people – it can make a great atmosphere.”

There it is again, that ever-bubbling well of optimism. The key to Federer’s longevity? He has Tigger for his spirit animal.