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Federer goes back to basics in Cincinnati


 

Originally published on: 14/08/13 00:00

The five-time champion went back to basics in Cincinnati as he reverted to playing with his traditional 90 inch frame, but revealed that he intends to continue experimenting with a larger racket later in the season.

Federer arrived in Ohio in need of a confidence boost after a second-round exit at Wimbledon and back-to-back defeats in Hamburg and Gstaad, while he pulled out of last week’s Rogers Cup with a back injury.

After experimenting with a larger prototype Wilson racket on the clay last month, Federer admits he was relieved to be pain free as he battled to a 6-3 7-6(7) victory against Kohlschreiber.

"I think it was a match where I had to sort of just fight to come through and hopefully get over the finish line," Federer said. "I was playing really well at times, and then sometimes it was maybe a bit up and down.

"But assessing the performance overall, I'm very happy. It's good to be back and playing pain free. My mind's good. I was in a good place while I was playing, so it felt nice to win at the end."

After cruising through the opening set Federer dropped his serve to hand his opponent a 4-2 lead in the second set, but battled back to level before converting his second match point in the tiebreak.

Speaking after his opening win in Cincinnati, where he is bidding for a record sixth title, Federer confirmed he would do some more racket testing after the US Open.

"I'm going to do more racket testing when I have some more time after the US Open," he said. "I was playing for a month with the black one, but it's a prototype. At the end, I just felt like, you know what, right now I feel like I need to simplify everything and just play with what I know best."

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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.