Roger Federer starts the clay court season with little confidence
After winning the tournament in Miami, Roger Federer will only return to the ATP tour in Madrid. There, the 37-year-old will start the tournament with little self-confidence due to his long absence from the clay court.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Apr 01, 2019, 03:16 pm
Roger Federer made his last clay court appearance in May 2016 when he lost to Dominic Thiem in the round of 16 of the ATP tournament in Rome. After that, the 20-time Grand Slam winner had to cancel the French Open, and the Swiss has not set foot on the match tours of the ATP tour in the past two years either.
In May this year, the 101-time tournament winner will once again venture onto the red ashes. The comeback will be the Caja Magica in Madrid, where Federer has already won twice on clay. The choice for the tournament in the Spanish capital should not have come about by chance, the altitude (667 meters above sea level) allows Federer to celebrate his attacking tennis on clay court.
I can't even remember how to slide.
Roger Federer
Nevertheless, the father of four does not pay off too much: "I will not start the clay court season with much confidence. I can not even remember how to slide. At this point I take baby steps", Federer practiced after his triumph Miami in understatement.
Federer can also do it on sand
Despite the outstanding start to the 2019 season, which even put Federer in first place in the ATP Race to London , the 37-year-old started the European clay court season with little expectations: "To be honest, I didn't have a blow last year played on clay. Two years ago I played two days, three years ago I played in Monte Carlo and Rome even though I wasn't feeling well, so it was so little that I don't know what to expect. "
In his long career, Federer has already proven on many occasions that he can also show excellent tennis on ashes. Overall, the Swiss won eleven titles on sand, including the French Open in 2009. The tournament in Paris is likely to be the only one that Federer will contest on clay this season, in addition to the one in Madrid.
If the course is optimal, he also believes in the title at Roland Garros, but for this he needs some luck and good preparation. This will also be the focus of the fourth in the world rankings in the coming weeks: "In the next four or five weeks I will find out with our fitness coach and my trainers how we will design the process." One thing, however, is already certain for Federer: "The win in Miami takes the pressure off the clay court season."