For Roger Federer, who had been sidelined since the Australian Open, a series of unfortunate events has its silver lining.

“I am rested mentally and physically. I believe you can add everything to the back end of your career, in terms of being fresher mentally and being able to train harder. Whatever rest it is, it ends up in a canister you can draw from,” said the Swiss, who underwent arthroscopic left knee surgery for a meniscus tear after his semi-final showing in Melbourne. “Tommy Haas, for instance, has been injured for more than three years in his career, and he is still on tour because mentally he is fresh and he still loves it.”

The 34-year-old Federer had been slated to return at the Miami Open, but was forced to pull out due to illness.

“I’m happy to say that I’ve recovered well from the virus in Miami,” Federer said on Sunday during his pre-tournament press conference at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. “At first, I was concerned that it might be something that would last a while, but I was feeling better three days later. I arrived in Monte Carlo nine or 10 days ago and I’ve been training on centre court for the past eight or nine days. Things are going well. I’m happy with how I move; how I’m hitting the ball. I’ve played a lot of practice sets.”

The additional preparation has been a boon for the four-time finalist (2006-08, 2014), who is looking to win the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters for the first time.

“[Monte Carlo] is an opportunity for top guys to play more freely, since there is less pressure and it’s a change of surface for everyone,” Federer, who lost to Rafael Nadal in his first three finals and to Stan Wawrinka two years ago. “I’ve played very well in Monaco in the past, but for now my objective is to make my return to play, gain a good feel and go from there.

“My knee hasn’t bothered me, but the big test will be seeing how it reacts in match conditions. There are no easy draws in a Masters 1000, so I am not underestimating anyone. At the same time, I hope no one is underestimating me just because I’ve been hurt.”

Federer has a first-round bye and will face either Guillermo Garcia-Lopez or Thomaz Bellucci in his opening match.

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan have returned to the champions’ podium.

The all-time great doubles team won their first title of the year on Saturday night at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship, beating Victor Estrella Burgos of the Dominican Republic and Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico 4-6, 6-3, 10-8. The Americans broke their opponents in the second set and won a back-and-forth point at 8-all in the match tie-break to serve for the match. A Bob Bryan forehand winner down the line gave them the title, which led to their customary chest bump.

“It was a battle from the first point to the last but we feel like we played our best tennis down the stretch,” Bob Bryan said. “It’s nice to pull out some close wins after losing a few tight matches to start the season. We’re looking forward to building momentum through the clay court season.”

The team has now won Houston six times, making the tournament the third event the Bryans have won at least six times (Australian Open and Los Angeles). The win also ups their overall title tally to 110. Saturday’s win ended a title drought for the duo as well. The team had finished 12 tournaments without a title since winning the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 at Montreal in August 2015. They had gone 13 tournaments between titles before winning their fifth at Acapulco in 2002.

“It feels great to get over the hump and win number 110 after a bit of title drought,” Mike Bryan said. “There’s no better place to do it than in Houston, where we’ve enjoyed so much success and had unbelievable fan support. Thanks to the River Oaks Country Club and its members for another fantastic tournament.”

The Bryans will receive 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split $27,840. Estrella Burgos and Gonzalez were playing in the first ATP World Tour event together. They will receive 150 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points and split $14,630.

Juan Monaco will play for his first ATP World Tour title in almost three years on Sunday.

The Argentine dismissed Spain’s Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-2 during their semi-finals match on Saturday at the Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship in Houston. Monaco will face an American in the championship, either John Isner or Jack Sock. Monaco last won a title in May 2013 (Dusseldorf), and he’ll be going for his second Houston championship (d. Isner 2012).

“I’m really happy to be here again in the final,” Monaco said on court after the match. “I was really focused, consistent from the baseline.”

It will be the 32 year old’s 21^st career title match and likely one of his more meaningful. He missed six months last fall and earlier this year because of a right wrist injury. Monaco slipped in the Emirates ATP Rankings from No. 39 a year ago to No. 146 this week.

But against Lopez, the 6’1” baseliner overcame some nervy play to advance to another Houston final. Monaco had three chances to break Lopez and gain a 5-1 lead but the Spaniard held and then broke Monaco to get back on serve. The Argentine eventually took the first set, though.

In the second, Monaco broke Lopez three times and used his consistent serving – he hit 71 per cent of his first serves for the match – to win in straight sets. “I think I played a great match,” Monaco said.

The former Top 10 player is playing in just his fifth tour-level tournament of 2016, but he’s exactly where he wants to be on the final day in Houston.

Borna Coric will have another opportunity to claim his first ATP World Tour title after edging Jiri Vesely in two tie-breaks on Saturday at the Grand Prix Hassan II.

Appearing in his second final, Coric will look to go one step further in Marrakech after finishing runner-up to Stan Wawrinka in Chennai to open the season. He downed eighth seed Vesely 7-6(5), 7-6(5), marking the fourth time a NextGen player has reached an ATP World Tour final in 2016. Nick Kyrgios won his maiden title in Marseille and Taylor Fritz reached the final in Memphis.

Third seed Coric needed one hour and 57 minutes to dispatch Vesely, firing six aces. After claiming the opening set in a tie-break, he recovered nicely when conceding an early break in the second and falling behind 3-0. Vesely would deny the Croat’s first match point at 6-4 in the ensuing tie-break, putting away a lunging backhand volley. But an exuberant Coric converted his second as a Vesely forehand sailed long.

“It was a very good match for me,” said Coric. “I’m very young and have a lot of space to learn and improve, but also I’ve been on the tour for many years now and I feel quite confident now.”

The 19-year-old Croat is bidding to become the first teenage titlist on the ATP World Tour since Marin Cilic lifted the trophy in New Haven in 2008. He will face a streaking Federico Delbonis in Sunday’s final.

Delbonis will look to make it an all-Argentine winners’ circle in Marrakech after Guillermo Duran and Maximo Gonzalez won the doubles title on Saturday. The red-hot 25-year-old turned aside 2007 runner-up Albert Montanes 6-4, 6-3 to reach his first tour-level final in nearly two years (Nice 2014). The great result on the Moroccan clay comes less than a month after stunning World No. 2 Andy Murray in the Indian Wells third round. It was his third Top 10 victory.

Appearing in his fourth career ATP World Tour title match, Delbonis will face Coric for the first time.

Guillermo Duran and Maximo Gonzalez raised the Argentine flag in Morocco, claiming their first ATP World Tour team title on Saturday.

Duran and Gonzalez fought off Marin Draganja and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-2, 3-6, 10-6 to prevail after one hour and 22 minutes at the Grand Prix Hassan II in Marrakech. The first Argentine duo to lift an ATP World Tour trophy since Carlos Berlocq and Eduardo Schwank in Stuttgart 2010, they fired four aces and converted two of five break chances.

“I’m very happy about this victory,” said Gonzalez. “We had a great week. Guillermo is a good friend of mine and it feels great to win this title together. Today was a very tough match and we are proud to leave with the trophy.”

Having previously notched five ATP Challenger Tour titles from eight finals, Duran and Gonzalez were competing in just their second tour-level event together. Individually, Duran won his second crown, following a successful run on the clay of Quito (w/Carreno Busta) in February. Gonzalez staked claim to his third doubles title following success in Valencia 2008 (w/Monaco) and Umag 2015 (w/Sa).

“We’ve played a lot of Challengers together but this was only our second ATP World Tour event together,” Duran added. “We enjoyed Marrakech a lot, the whole team here is great and very helpful. It was a pleasure and we will come back for sure.”

The Argentine tandem leave with €25,070 in prize money and 250 Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings points. Draganja and Qureshi, who split €13,170 and 150 points for their efforts, were vying for their first team title in their debut together. The Croat falls to 4-4 in ATP World Tour finals, while the Pakistani drops to 11-15.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has been pitted in the same half of the draw as Roger Federer as he aims to retain his title and clinch a third crown at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters.

The Serb defeated Tomas Berdych last year to add to the title he won in 2013, when he beat Rafael Nadal. Djokovic comes into the third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament of the season having lost just one match in 2016, lifting trophies in Doha, the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami.

The 28-year-old Djokovic will look to extend his Masters 1000 domination and win a 29th crown at the Monte-Carlo Country Club. The Belgrade native has reached the final at every Masters 1000 tournament since 2014 Shanghai, where he was beaten in the semi-finals by Federer.

And it could be a semi-final meeting for Djokovic with Federer in Monte-Carlo, should both men advance. It would be their 46th encounter, with Djokovic edging into a 23-22 lead in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry after beating the Swiss in the Australian Open semi-finals.

View: Singles Draw | Doubles Draw

Djokovic opens his campaign against either Jiri Vesely, who is in the Marrakech semi-finals later today, or Teymuraz Gabashvili. The right-hander is projected to meet 13th seed Gael Monfils in the third round and could face eighth seed David Ferrer in the quarter-finals.

Ferrer, who reached the Monte-Carlo final in 2011 (l. to Nadal), is in the same section of the draw as #NextGen players Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev, who face each other in the first round. The in-form David Goffin, fresh from semi-finals in Indian Wells and Miami, could also challenge Ferrer for a quarter-final spot.

Federer is set to play his first tournament since undergoing arthroscopic surgery for a meniscal tear in his left knee after the Australian Open. The 34-year-old Swiss is looking to add the Monte-Carlo crown to his collection of 24 Masters 1000 trophies; he reached the final in 2006 (l. to Nadal), 2007 (l. to Nadal), 2008 (l. to Nadal) and 2014 (l. to Wawrinka).

Federer begins against Thomaz Bellucci or Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, with the possibility of Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round. Both eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and ninth seed Richard Gasquet could pose a threat to Federer in the quarter-finals.

Second seed Andy Murray, eight-time champion Nadal, 2014 winner Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych headline the bottom half of the draw.

New father, Murray, is looking to reach the Monte-Carlo final for the first time, after semi-final efforts in 2009 and 2011 (l. to Nadal). The Scot opens his campaign against either a qualifier or Guido Pella and could meet 16th-seeded Frenchman Benoit Paire in the third round.

Murray is projected to face the sixth-seeded Berdych in the quarter-finals, but the Czech must first advance through a section that includes fellow Monaco resident Milos Raonic, who enjoyed strong results in March with a final showing in Indian Wells and the quarter-finals in Miami.

Nadal and Wawrinka find themselves on a collision course in arguably the most challenging section of the draw. The 29-year-old Nadal has a 53-4 tournament record in Monte-Carlo, with his last title coming in 2012 (d. Djokovic).

Nadal faces Lukas Rosol or Aljaz Bedene in his opening second-round match before the prospect of a third-round clash with 12th seed Dominic Thiem, who beat the Spaniard in February when the pair met on clay in the Buenos Aires semi-finals.

Fourth seed Wawrinka, who won his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown with victory at the Monte-Carlo Country Club in 2014, is looking to bounce back after a surprise second-round exit in Miami (l. to Kuznetsov). The Swiss faces a tough draw though, beginning against either #NextGen star Borna Coric – in the Marrakech semi-finals – or Philipp Kohlschreiber. He then has the possibility of Gilles Simon or Grigor Dimitrov in the third round.

Main draw play begins on Sunday in Monte-Carlo.

Americans Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan will play for their sixth Fayez Sarofim & Co. U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship title on Saturday.

The top seeds reached their second final of 2016 as they defeated fourth-seeded countrymen Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey 7-6(5), 6-3 on Friday afternoon. They saved all four break point chances faced on serve, while capitalising on two of their four opportunities.

The Bryans are looking to win their 110th team title and first since the Rogers Cup in August. They have won five titles (2007, ’09-11, ’14) in their past seven visits to Houston, and have a 35-8 record at this ATP World Tour 250 tournament.

Argentines Advance In Marrakech

Guillermo Duran and Maximo Gonzalez advanced to the title match at the Grand Prix Hassan II when they defeated third seeds Mate Pavic and Michael Venus 5-7, 6-4, 10-7 in one hour and 46 minutes. They will challenge Marin Draganja and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi on Saturday.