Chronicle Editor
Dan Evans will be the first opponent of Roger Federer’s comeback after victory over Jeremy Chardy at the Qatar Open.
Great Britain’s Evans beat Chardy 6-4-1-6 6-2 in the first round in Doha and will face Federer in the last 16.
Federer, 39, has missed more than a year of action after undergoing two knee surgeries but has been practising with Evans in recent weeks.
“I got to practise the last two weeks — I thought he was playing pretty well, we played plenty of sets,” said Evans.
“It was competitive, but it’s all very different when you get on the match court,”
Evans, 30, is expected to face Federer on Wednesday evening.
He said it was “a little” strange to see the 20-time Grand Slam winner watching him during his win over Chardy.
“He’s obviously seen a lot of my game the last few weeks so I would say it was more out of boredom,” added Evans.
“He was probably waiting for his practice, rather than scouting out what’s happening on the court.
“Some days we practised for three hours, other days we practised for an hour and a half. It’s been good to get some good practice. It’s unfortunate that I’m in his part of the draw this week, but moving forward it’s a good little block I put together.” — BBC Sport
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