The Maestro is now thinking about just one thing: having a great season on grass.
Roger Federer had a not-so-triumphant clay court season. He lost the final in Monte-Carlo where he was the clear favorite against Wawrinka; he missed the tournament in Madrid (paternity leave!); he crashed out in the opener in Rome against Chardy and he lost in the 4th round in Paris against Gulbis after having the upper hand in the first 2 sets. The big disappointment was that he was just playing great, but for whatever reason he wasn’t able to capitalize on his new found tennis. Time to get more on grass.
Federer: Halle is my focus now…
Roger will defend his title in Halle where he has triumphed 6 times (and he was 2 times the runner-up) “Clearly first the focus is on Halle, try to defend my title there. It’s nice going back to a place where I have to defend something. Hasn’t been like this for a while, so that’s something I’m looking forward to. I think when I’m healthy, like I have been now for the last six to nine months, I think I can also decide the outcome of the matches more than I could last year. I’m very excited about my chances for Wimbledon now this time.”
Last year Roger has won the tournament beating Youzhny in the final 6-7 (5) 6-4 6-3.
… and I need to change the back-hand swing.
Switching from clay to grass is a big thing and also King Roger needs to adapt “Things are going to change with the grass season. It’s going to be different. I have to shorten the back-swing.
Usually one plays well on grass because one has to do so much on clay to put pressure on the ball that it’s necessary to hit hard. I feel the same for myself. When you move on the quick ground, it’s difficult to take the speed from the opponent. On clay it’s different, and that’s probably the reason I play rather well on grass after the clay season.”
The tournament in Halle will start the 9th of June and his nemesis Rafael Nadal will be the seed no.1 Better being ready.
