Federer feels the benefit of break

 

Originally published on: 08/03/12 16:22

Roger Federer will go into this month’s back-to-back Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami believing he is reaping the benefit of the break he took in the autumn. The 30-year-old Swiss has won five of the seven tournaments he has played since he returned to compete in his hometown tournament at Basle four months ago.
 
“I’ve played a lot of tennis,” Federer said of his recent run. “I think the six weeks I took off after the Davis Cup and the US Open was necessary if I wanted to play that much and be that successful. So that was a good decision. Obviously I’m still sad I didn’t go to Shanghai last year because it’s such a wonderful tournament, but in hindsight maybe it was the right thing to do.”
 
Federer believes that taking such a break helped him to maintain his remarkable fitness record. It certainly did wonders for his form. He had won only one title in the first 10 months of last year, but since the beginning of November he has won tournaments in Basle, Paris, London, Rotterdam and Dubai. During that time he has played 35 matches and lost just twice, to Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals of the Australian Open and to John Isner in the Davis Cup.
 
“I think I was just confident,” Federer said. “I was playing aggressively.  I was focused. I didn’t doubt my ability. I’m defending much better than maybe I was in the middle of last year, when I felt like I couldn’t come out of tough defensive positions any more. I was able to turn it around.
 
“It started midway through the French Open and then through Wimbledon. Even though I ended up losing there, I felt like my game was very good. That proved I was heading in the right direction. Now I just have to keep it up.”

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