DOHA (Reuters): Roger Federer marked his eagerly-awaited return to action after more than a year with some vintage tennis as he beat Dan Evans 7-6(8) 3-6 7-5 at the Qatar Open on Wednesday.

The 39-year-old Swiss had not played a competitive match for 405 days and underwent two knee surgeries in 2020, but clicked smoothly back into gear against the British number one.

A socially-distanced evening crowd at the Khalifa Tennis Complex were treated to a high-quality duel with Evans pushing the 20-times Grand Slam champion to the limit.

Federer showed great physical condition and kept his nose in front in the deciding set before pouncing in the 12th game to rifle a backhand winner down the line on his second match point.

It was a magical moment for Federer who said it had been a long and tough road since his last match, a semi-final defeat by Novak Djokovic at the 2020 Australian Open.

“It feels good to be back, happy to be standing here whether I won or lost,” the evergreen Federer, who received a bye in the first round, said on court after his fourth win from four meetings against the skilful Evans.

“I was tired and focused on being tired rather than winning the points. If I was going to go out I wanted to go out swinging. Incredibly happy about my performance and it was nice to finish with a backhand winner down the line.”

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