Roger Federer will make his eagerly awaited return to the International BNL d’Italia at the Foro Italico in Rome to play against Joao Sousa.
Federer has not played in Rome since 2016 when he lost to Dominic Thiem in the third round. The Rome title is one of the few missing trophies from his cabinet alongside the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. He reached the final in the Eternal City four times in 2003, 2006, 2013 and 2015. He lost an epic five-set final against Rafael Nadal in 2006 by the scoreline of 6-7 7-6 6-4 2-6 7-6.
The Swiss Maestro took the decision to play in Rome after his three-set defeat against Dominic Thiem in the quarter final in Madrid.
“I have just come from practising for five weeks after Miami. I think I was playing well in Madrid, so I just said: “Let’s come to Rome, a city I like so much as well. There would be excitement, more excitement than me coming to a practice court in Switzerland. I thought that would be nice. Honestly I love to play matches. Regardless of what happens here, I just think it’s good for me to play matches at this stage. I am very happy to be here. I am pumped up to play well. My excitement could not be bigger. The moment I landed in Rome yesterday I was happy to be here. I love this city. I have always enjoyed playing in Italy. It’s probably the country I have played the most junior tennis in. Coming down from Switzerland to the clay courts was always a logical junior trip. They have strong junior tournaments here. I love being here, especially in this city as well”,said Federer.
During the press conference Federer talked about the different conditions between Madrid and Rome.
“In Madrid conditions were tough for all players. I felt like playing somewhat maybe more sea level conditions would be good for me.
On Monday Federer trained with 17-year-old Italian rising star Jannik Sinner, who reached the final of the pre-qualifying tournament of the Internazionali d’Italia and won his first ATP Challenger in Bergamo last February.
“I think Sinner is a good player. I practiced with him outside of of Monaco after the the Laureus Award last year in February,. I saw him when he was young. He made some good improvement. He seems like a good guy. In terms of maybe technique, it’s a similar approach to a strong baseline game. In Switzerland we have somewhat of an altitude everywhere you go, everywhere you look. The weather this week in Switzerland is also not great. Yesterday when I left it was like five degrees in the morning when I woke up. It’s just not ideal to practice this way as well. Then I was in mood to play.”
