Federer says he will play Basel event in October

Former men’s tennis world number one Roger Federer, plagued by recurring knee problems for the last two years, will play singles at the ATP Basel indoor tournament in October, organisers said.
Federer, who hasn’t played competitively since losing last July in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon to Pole Hubert Hurkacz, replied to the organisers’ Instagram announcement with the message: “Looking forward to playing back home.”
The tournament, like the 10-time winner, will be making its return after an enforced break having not taken place for the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“After a two-year break due to the pandemic, the Swiss Indoors Basel will return to the ATP Tour in the fall of 2022,” organisers said in a statement.  “10-time singles champion and hometown hero Roger Federer has announced his comeback to the stadium at St. Jakobshalle,” adding that “the worldwide interest...is expected to be tremendous”.
Federer, who turns 41 in August, is also due to play in the three-day team event Laver Cup with long-time rival Rafael Nadal (right) in London in September. The duo teamed up to play doubles at the inaugural event in 2017.
Federer withdrew from the Olympics last year and underwent his third bout of knee surgery in 18 months, to “suture” his right internal meniscus and “treat (his) cartilage”.
Federer played just 13 matches in 2021, having played only six times in 2020.
Federer has 20 career Grand Slam titles, tied for second with Novak Djokovic and one behind recordholder Nadal, who won the season-opening Australian Open.
Federer’s most recent Grand Slam title came at the 2018 Australian Open.

Nadal to make injury return at Madrid Open
Australian Open champion Rafa Nadal will make his return from a month-long absence due to injury at this week’s ATP Masters 1000 Madrid Open that begins later this week, the Spaniard announced yesterday. The 35-year-old, who last played in the final of Indian Wells against Taylor Fritz on March 20, suffered a stress fracture in his rib during the tournament, forcing him to miss claycourt events in Monte Carlo and Barcelona.
“Despite arriving just before the tournament and preparation being difficult, I really want to play at home since the opportunities are few,” Nadal wrote on Twitter. “So I’m going to try to do it in the best way I can. See you in Madrid.”
The former world number’s one return to action comes little under a month before the French Open, where he will be bidding for a record-extending 14th title. The claycourt major gets underway on May 22.

Raducanu set for fourth coach in a year
US Open champion Emma Raducanu is set to appoint her fourth coach in a year after ending her association with Torben Beltz after just five months, she said yesterday.
The 19-year-old is due to play in the Madrid Open this week as she builds up to the French Open but said she felt she required a “new training model”.
The Lawn Tennis Association’s (LTA) head of women’s coaching, Iain Bates, will work with Raducanu this week. She will bid to build on her run to the Stuttgart quarter-finals last week where she lost to world number one and eventual champion Iga Swiatek. “I want to thank Torben for his coaching, professionalism and dedication over the last half a year,” said Raducanu, who on Monday rose to her highest world ranking of 11.
“He has a huge heart and I have enjoyed our strong chemistry during the time together.
“I feel the best direction for my development is to transition to a new training model with the LTA supporting in the interim.”
Beltz previously coached former world number one and fellow German Angelique Kerber when she won the Australian Open and US Open titles in 2016.
Raducanu has gone through a number of coaches in the past year since she first made her mark in reaching the last 16 at Wimbledon, even before she had received her final school exam results.
She replaced Nigel Sears with Andrew Richardson after Wimbledon, but Richardson’s contract was not renewed despite Raducanu’s stunning success at the US Open.
Raducanu could turn towards Italian Ricardo Piatti, who has coached among others France’s former world number seven, the mercurial Richard Gasquet, and 2016 Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic.
He is available after cutting ties with compatriot Jannik Sinner, who he guided into the men’s world top 10.