No ice-bath recovery for old-school Roger Federer
Roger Federer admitted he felt tired at times as he returned from 14 months out to beat Dan Evans at the Qatar Open on Wednesday, but will not be changing his post-match routine.
The 39-year-old Swiss, who had not played since losing to Novak Djokovic in the 2020 Australian Open semi-finals, after which he has had two knee operations, produced some vintage tennis to win 7-6 (10/8), 3-6, 7-5.
Encouragingly, Federer displayed his trademark silky movement and said the knee had held up during a duel that lasted nearly 2½ hours.
Asked whether he would be employing any new recovery techniques before his quarter-final against Nikoloz Basilashvili late last night, Federer said he would stick to his usual routine.
"You're talking to an old-school guy. So I have done one ice bath and I didn't like it. So I'm not going to do that again," Federer said.
"I don't just take painkillers for fun. I only take them when I really have to. Don't feel like that's the case tonight.
"I'm going to stretch and take a massage and sleep in and then warm up properly tomorrow. Very simple." - REUTERS
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