Roger Federer 'on track' for return to tennis in January 2017

Tennis legend Roger Federer has revealed he is completely 'on track' for a return to the sport in 2017 following his injury issues, which have prevented him form playing this season. The 17-Grand Slam winner, who has not played competitive tennis since the 2016 Wimbledon Championships because of knee issues, is scheduled to return at the beginning of next season.

The 35-year-old also underwent surgery for the first time in his 17-year career in February this year, when he went through with a knee surgery fix a torn meniscus, an injury which he sustained while running a bath for his twin daughters.

"I am completely on track. The hope is that in physical conditional I am again 100 percent almost, like with treadmill and sprints. Now we increase the intensity, and also I will start to play tennis again". Federer said, as quoted by Tennis.com.

The former world number one revealed that he has been on the court for only a dozen times since the Wimbledon championships, with him practicing for rarely more than an hour.

"The difficult phase was Rome through Wimbledon. Because I noticed something is wrong with my knee. I don't feel any progress, I'm not properly prepared for Wimbledon."

Federer's hopes of clinching an eight title at the courts of SW19 were brought to a halt by Milos Raonic, who shocked him 6-3, 6-7, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the semi-final stage. Despite his loss, Federer called it one of the more memorable Wimbledon's of his career.

"It was okay and right to play Wimbledon. I was surprised getting that far. That is why it was one of my most memorable Wimbledon's."

The former world number one is targeting a return to the Australian Open which takes place in January, 2017 and knows that he will be under pressure on return and that he will have to claw his way back up the rankings.

"I have thought about that these few weeks, what it will be like when I return, will I feel pressure. I will have dropped a few rankings. But if I can train the way I am hoping during the off season, I'm thinking that I can quite rapidly rejoin", the former world number one added.