Roger Federer has confirmed he plans to return to competitive action at the Australian Open in January.
The 17-time Grand Slam winner has not played since losing to Milos Raonic in the Wimbledon semi-finals after opting to take a break from the game in a bid to help his body recover from injuries.
Federer’s decision has seen him miss out on representing Switzerland at the Olympics while he is also set to be absent for the final Grand Slam of the year, the US Open.
He now says he is aiming to making his playing return at January’s Australian Open.
The former world number one was speaking at an event to publicise the Laver Cup, a tournament which will be played in Prague in September 2017 as Europe take on the Rest of the World in a Ryder Cup-style competition.
Although he admits it was a tough decision to take the rest of the year off, the 35-year-old believes it was the right call going forward.
“I’m working for the Australian Open,” the Swiss said. “I’m doing well. I never thought I’d have a year like this. I’ve learned a lot from this year.
“It’s painful being here in New York, and it was painful during the Olympics because I love competing.
But you can’t have it all. “It was a tough decision to say the least – going out of Rio, the US Open, the [season-ending] World Tour Finals.
But in some ways it ended up being a simple decision. Health is my number one thing.”
Novak Djokovic is the 1.95 favourite to win the US Open while Andy Murray is priced at 3.00 and Raonic is third in the betting at 15.00.
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