World number one Roger Federer has blamed his poor start to the year on a virus.
Swiss star struggling for fitness after glandular fever
World number one Roger Federer has blamed his poor start to the year on a virus.
Federer was beaten by Andy Murray in the first round of the Dubai Championship, suffering back-to-back defeats for the first time in almost five years.
It was the first time the Swiss star had been on court since his defeat to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the Australian Open.
In between, the 26-year-old had been suffering from glandular fever while holidaying in Switzerland, the virus causing sore throat, fever and swollen lymph glands.
Poor preparations
Federer said he first began to suffer the symptoms of the illness towards the end of last year, affecting his preparations for the first Grand Slam of the season in Melbourne.
"During the time in Melbourne I felt slow and kept looking for possible reasons for that without finding an answer," Federer said on his personal website.
"Some time later, during my holidays in Switzerland, I became severely ill again. I went to the hospital straight away to get further tests done. And it was at this time that they found out what was bothering me all along: mononucleosis (glandular fever).
"It was relieving to finally know why I had felt weak in Australia and also later on during my holidays. So the good news really is to be certain of what has occurred.
"The bad news is that I have quite some catching up to do in terms of fitness as I am not in the physical state that I would normally be in at this time of the year."
