Roger Federer says he is "refreshed and rejuvenated" by his time off the tour, and is ready to return to competition.
The father of four, who is married to retired pro Mirka Vavrinec, told *The New York Times* in an interview that, like him, his family had enjoyed spending more time at home, but was also eager to get back to tennis and traveling.
"Mirka is totally committed, totally happy,” he said. “The kids love it, and I’m still hungry. And now I’m even refreshed and rejuvenated. The kids were asking, ‘When are we leaving again?’ Because they were happy to get back on the road. It was like, ‘When are we going the next time to Australia, or the next time to New York?’ And I’ve been saying, ‘Not for a while.’"
Federer has not played since Wimbledon, having experienced further problems from the knee surgery he had following the Australian Open. He indicated he has been back in full training for about a month following an initial three-month rehab in which he trained for only an hour a day.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion kept up with tennis while away. He commented on Andy Murray taking the No. 1 ranking from Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal also deciding to take extra time to train.
"I was very surprised just because, when a guy starts a season the way Novak does—achieves his dream by winning the French and his fourth Slam in a row—of course there’s no way in the world that anybody, even the players, start thinking another guy could actually finish No. 1," he said. "And I think it actually creates a great story for next year.
"Andy’s a great story. Novak’s a great story. Rafa, obviously, is always going to be a good story.''
His aim is to add his own comeback to that collection of storylines.