Roger Federer to return from injury earlier than expected, will play in ITPL event in India

Swiss legend Roger Federer, who has not competed in an event since his semi-final defeat at the 2016 Wimbledon Championship earlier this year, has confirmed his participation in the International Premier Tennis League (ITPL) in December.

Federer, who has been out of action since the premier event at SW19 due to a knee injury for which he had to undergo a surgery, will play for the Indian Aces in the short-format event which will be held in the Japanese city of Saitama, Singapore and Hyderabad in India.

With current World No 1 Andy Murray and superstars Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal absent, the Swiss legend is the biggest name to grace the event which is a major boost to the competition which has been cut back to four teams and three venues this season.

Federer is scheduled to play in Hyderabad on 9 and 10 December. The final takes place the following day but as per the rules only the top two from the four-team round-robin phase will progress.

Seen as tennis' answer to the Twenty20 format in cricket, the ITPL consists of innovations like power points, player substitutions, no service lets and a shot clock. The number of players participating has been trimmed which means only a select few will take part in the event with Serena Williams, Kei Nishikori and Tomas Berdych among the big names. Other professionals expected to take part include Nick Kyrgios, Feliciano Lopez, Fernando Verdasco, Ana Ivanovic, Eugenie Bouchar, Martina Hingis, Sania Mirza, Daniel Nestor and Rohan Bopanna.

The trainer of the 17-time Grand Slam winner, Pierre Paganini, recently revealed that Federer was looking to make a comeback in early 2017 with the Australian Open a potential venue, but it looks like the former World No 1 will make a return earlier than expected.