Roger Federer’s agent has confirmed the 20-time grand slam champion will not play at this month’s Miami Open – the year’s first ATP Masters 1000 event.
The Swiss legend hasn’t played in more than a year after having two operations on his right knee last season.
The 39-year-old will make his competitive return to tennis at this week’s hard-court event in Doha, however he won’t travel to the United States later this month.
Federer had been on the entry list for the Masters 1000 event in Miami, where play starts on March 24.
But Federer’s agent Tony Godsick told The Associated Press on Monday that he’s withdrawing from the Miami event so he can spend extra time preparing to “work his way back out on tour.”
“After Doha and maybe Dubai, (Federer) will go back and do a training block to continue to slowly work his way back out on tour,” Godsick wrote in an email.
Miami Open tournament director James Blake did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Federer posted a photo of himself on Twitter last Friday with the caption: “The countdown to Doha begins.”
The hard-court event in Qatar will be his first since the semi-finals at the Australian Open in February 2020.
As of now, he is also slated to participate in the hard-court tournament in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which begins on March 14.
Federer beat John Isner 6-1, 6-4 in the final to win the Miami Open in 2019, the last time it was held.
