ROGER FEDERER HEALTHY AND READY TO GO FOR 2017, ANNOUNCES RETURN AT HOPMAN CUP IN PERTH

Written by: Staff on 31st December 2016

ROGER FEDERER HEALTHY AND READY TO GO FOR 2017, ANNOUNCES RETURN AT HOPMAN CUP IN PERTH

epa05356822 Switzerland's Roger Federer returns the ball to Dominic Thiem of Austria during their semi final match of the ATP tennis tournament at the Weissenhof in Stuttgart, Germany, 11 June 2016. EPA/MARIJAN MURAT |

By Ricky Dimon

Roger Federer announced on Monday that he has is physically fit and will be able to take part in the Hopman Cup beginning on Jan. 1 of 2017. Federer has not played competitively since falling to Milos Raonic in the Wimbledon semifinals in early July due to a knee injury.

“I know you all haven’t heard much from me while I’ve been recovering from injury,” the 17-time Grand Slam champion posted on Facebook. “I’ve missed you! I’m thrilled to be returning to the tour starting in January at the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia. I’m feeling healthy and ready to be back!”

The team competition includes eight nations each consisting of one man and one woman. Switzerland (Federer and Belinda Bencic) is part of a list that also features France (Richard Gasquet and Kristina Mladenovic), Germany (Alexander Zverev and Andrea Petkovic), Great Britain (Dan Evans and Heather Watson), Australia (Nick Kyrgios and Daria Gavrilova), the Czech Republic (Adam Pavlasek and Lucie Hradeka), Spain (Feliciano Lopez and Laura Arruabarrena), and the United States (Jack Sock and CoCo Vandeweghe).

Federer is then scheduled for a week off in advance of the Australian Open.

Roger Federer of Switzerland returns to Milos Raonic of Canada in their semi final match during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 08 July 2016 EPA/CLIVE BRUNSKILL

In addition to his encouraging announcement, the 35-year-old Swiss is soon to provide his fans with an extra treat. His practice from Dubai on Thursday will be streamed live on social media.

“Since it’s been awhile, I wanted to do something special for all my fans who’ve been supporting me this whole time,” Federer added via his Facebook page. “This Thursday, Dec. 22, at 2:00pm Dubai time, I’m going to broadcast my practice live on Twitter and Periscope from @RogerFederer. I’ll bring you along as I head to my practice court, and will stream some of my practice (warmup, drills, and even some points) live, and will leave some time for Q&A afterwards as well.

“I missed seeing you all in the second half of 2016. But hopefully you can join one of my last practices in 2016 live before 2017 kicks off! All you need to do is follow me on Periscope or visit my Twitter page at 2pm Dubai time to tune in.”