Declaring that there are ‘no more breaks’ this season, Roger Federer admits he has a lot of hard work ahead of him if he wishes to return to world No.1.
The 35-year-old will end his 10-week break from the tour this week at the Stuttgart Open after skipping the clay swing to rest his body. The break occurred after a stellar start to the year which saw him win a record 18th grand slam title at the Australian Open followed by achieving the sunshine double in Indian Wells and Miami. He has so far won 19 out of 20 tour matches played this year.
“I’ve had enough breaks. I’m a practice world champion now and that’s not who I want to be. I want to be a champ on the match courts.” Federer told atpworldtour.com.
“So I’m going to be playing a regular schedule for the second part of the season… And this is the beginning here at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart.”
With Federer frenzy erupting in the Germany city, it could be the start of Federer’s return to the top of the world rankings. In the ATP Race To London, he is currently positioned second after only playingh six tournaments in 2017. To put this into perspective, No.3 Dominic Thiem has already participated in 14. In the emirates ranking he is currently fifth in the world, 5000 points adrift from Andy Murray.
Whilst 5000 points appear to be a huge gap, Federer has few to defend during the second half of the year compared to his opponents. This is because of his six-month hiatus due to injury last year. One of his challengers for the top position is 10-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal, who has won four out of his last five tournaments. The rivalry is reminiscent of the old days when the two dominated the top-two positions, but Federer has stated that the No.1 position is not his main focus.
“After the strong clay court season, Rafael Nadal is now way ahead. I already knew after Miami that I would skip the clay court season and that it wouldn’t get any easier. But there’s still a lot of the season left.” Federer told Mercadescup.de.
“It’s absolutely not my focus. If there were a showdown in the fall, all the better. But I think Rafa is also not constantly looking at the world rankings, but is instead just trying to win as many tournaments as possible.”
The Wimbledon dream
The main goal of the Swiss player is the upcoming Wimbledon championships, where Federer will be bidding to become the first man in history to win an eighth title. Despite his recent lack of match play, he has the ability to still be a contender for the major titles. This was illustrated by his Australian Open triumph in January.
Set to play either Tommy Haas or Paul-Henri Herbert in Stuttgart on Wednesday, Federer intends to make little adjustments to his game compared to the start of the year. An unsurprising revelation given his strong start.
“The grass court season is short and very intensive. I won’t change too much of my game. The biggest change would be to just rely on Serve & Volley now. I think, I’m more dangerous, when I mix my game with good services, volleys and strong play from the base line.” He explained.
This week Federer is aiming to win his 16th ATP title on the grass and 92nd overall. He has already won more grass court titles than any other ATP player in history.
