Roger Federer clinched his third title of the year on Sunday as he beat Rafael Nadal in straight sets in the Miami Open final. The 35-year-old has already won the Australian Open and the Indian Wells Masters 1000 tournament this season. Federer was out of action in the second half of 2016 in order to recover from a knee injury and says he will limit his presences on the tour in the coming months.
"When I am healthy and feeling good, I can produce tennis like this," Federer said after the Miami Open final. "When I am not feeling this good there is no chance I will be in the finals competing with Rafa. That is why this break is coming in the clay-court season, focusing everything on the French, the grass and then the hard courts after that. I'm not 24 any more so things have changed in a big way and I probably won't play any clay-court event except the French."
The French Open at Roland Garros kicks off on May 28 and Federer has not won this tournament since 2009. The Swiss has enjoyed the best start to a season since 2006, with 19 victories and just one loss. However, he expects Rafa Nadal to dominate the clay-court season: "I know everybody is working very hard on your team to get you back in shape, and keep going. The clay courts are around, so I'm sure you are going to tear it into pieces over there."
In fact, Rafa Nadal is 9/4 favourite at Bet365 to win the French Open this year, Novak Djokovic is 7/4 to win it and Roger Federer is 16/1.
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Comments (1)
sharpe
05/05/17, 10:05:27 PM
I think that's the best thing Federer could do, his body definitely needs a rest at this age and despite he was in great form at the time he made that interview,...
I think that's the best thing Federer could do, his body definitely needs a rest at this age and despite he was in great form at the time he made that interview, it's still a well needed rest. In the end Rolland Garros is the biggest clay court tournament and the grass season is very important for Federer too I think, he could definitely compete for the end victory there.
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