Roger Federer is maintaining a positive outlook on his current form after suffering a surprise loss to Germany’s Tommy Haas in the second round of the Stuttgart Open.
Playing his first competitive match in ten weeks, Federer failed to convert a match point in the second set as he crashed out 2-6, 7-6(8), 6-4, to his semi-retired 39-year-old opponent. There was still encouraging signs displayed by the Swiss player, who fired 23 aces past Haas. The biggest issue was Federer’s break point conversion rate of only three out of 12. In the decider, he was unable to convert any of his seven opportunities.
“I would have hoped to stay here longer and clearly give myself the best possible chance to win the tournament here. So that’s a let down.” Federer reflected following his loss.
Despite his absence from the tour, Federer had high hopes for the tournament considering his record on the grass. Today Haas became only the third player to defeat him twice on the grass after Novak Djokovic and Lleyton Hewitt. Furthermore, it was the first time Federer has lost his opening match in a grass-court tournament since the 2002 Wimbledon championships.
“It’s not really what I was hoping to do. Especially with it being on grass courts close to home in Germany, where it has been a good hunting ground for me.” The Australian Open champion said.
“It’s not good enough for me, but I got to look at the positives right now. I’ve already been on the grass courts for over two weeks.” He later added.
Prior to this week, the last time the 35-year-old grace his presence on the tour was in March at the Miami Open. During the first three months of the year, Federer claimed three titles and won 19 out of the 20 matches he played. His other previous loss of 2017 occurred in Doha against Evgeny Donskoy. Like Haas, Federer also failed to convert a match point before losing.
The positive side
Reflecting upon only his 15th loss to a player ranked outside the top-300 in his career, Federer remains undeterred. The almost two-hour duel with Haas was a good test of his current fitness levels.
“It’s good to play a match again. I already feel the body, it feels different right now than after practice because it makes you sort of tired that first match on the grass.”
Attention now switches to the Gerry Weber Open in Halle next week. Historically Federer has dominated the tournament. Since 2003 he has won a record nine titles (eight in singles and one in doubles). Last year he was stopped in the semifinals by Alexander Zverev.
“There are some positives to take away from this week as well, even though it was shortly lived, it is going to give me a good preparation into Halle, which I need.” He concluded.
Federer is set to be the top seed in Halle next week in what will be his last tournament before Wimbledon.
