Federer has feet up during tennis hiatus

Roger Federer's coach Severin Luthi claims there is no need for arduous practice on court while the tennis season is still in limbo.

The 20-time Grand Slam winner has not played any competitive tennis since the Australian Open in January although he did compete in the Match in Africa in Cape Town against Rafael Nadal in early February.

He underwent knee surgery shortly after the exhibition event in South Africa and was initially expected to make a return in mid-June.

With tennis on an enforced break until at least the end of July, Federer revealed earlier in May that he is “not training at the moment because I don’t see a reason for that to be honest”.

Some of his main rivals, though, have returned to training with Novak Djokovic set to take part in the Adria Tour next month.

However, Luthi says there is not rush for Federer.

“For him it is not necessary to be worried about hitting balls too much,” he told Paul Annacone during an interview for Tennis Channel.

“I think maybe you saw on social media he was hitting balls against a wall with the volley challenge. He does that more for fun, it’s not necessary for him to hit, especially as he is coming back from knee surgery.

“At the moment, there is no stress or pressure on him to practice.

“If the tournaments start again I think there is going to be enough time [to prepare].”

- TEAMtalk media