Roger Federer has said he should know by May whether he could return to tennis after revealing he was still not allowed to run following triple knee surgery.
Federer announced plans to resume intense exercise this month, admitting being able to do so would make or break his hopes of a comeback at the age of 40.
The Swiss has spent the best part of two years on the sidelines, during which time he watched Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic equal his record of grand slam triumphs, with the former then moving clear on Sunday courtesy of an epic Australian Open victory.
“I have, I think, very interesting and important next months ahead of me,” said Federer in an interview with sponsor Credit Suisse.
“Until now, I wasn’t really allowed to run yet and do the heavy workloads with jumps and stop and goes. So I hope that that’s all going to start hopefully in a couple of weeks. And then we’ll see how the body will react to that. And that’s obviously what I need to return to the tennis court. So I think this question is better answered maybe by April/May.
“But for now, of course, the drive is there. I’m really motivated to do my work, what I’m allowed to do.
“So, it’s still good times even though it’s a little bit slow, because I would love to do way more. But the doctors and everybody’s holding me back a little bit.”
Federer, who had been among the first to congratulate Nadal for winning on Sunday, said he had “no problem” with his great friend and rival breaking a record he himself had held since 2009 and last extended in 2018.
“I’m the first guy to be happy for anybody who breaks any record, because I know how hard it is to do,” he said.
Federer said he watched the Sunday’s final at home but not all five hours and 24 minutes thanks to his four children.
“The match took too long, and I’ve got too many children so I couldn’t watch every point, but I tuned in for the very end and it was nice to see the emotions.
“It gets you all emotional to see such an incredible hard-fought victory.”