Federer ‘not too worried’ about back injury

 

Originally published on: 02/07/12 00:00

The Swiss departed the court for eight minutes during the first set of his 7-6(1) 6-1 4-6 6-3 win over Xavier Malisse to receive medical attention on his back, but Federer insists the injury is not a significant concern.

“Honestly I'm not too worried,” said the world No.3. “I've had bad backs over the years I've been around. They go as quick as they came. But of course I have to keep an eye on it now. 

“I have one and a half days, which is a lot of time, to be quite honest, to work with. Two good night's sleeps and I'll be 100% on Wednesday. I'm pretty convinced, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to pull out the match the way I did today.”

Victory over Malisse earned Federer his 850th tour-level triumph and a place in the quarter-finals for the 11th time in his 14 main draw appearances at the All England Club. The 30-year-old Bottmingen resident will now be looking to surpass the quarter-finals at SW19 for the first time since 2009, having lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Tomas Berdych in the last eight in the past two years.

In his favour, Federer has beaten Youzhny in all 13 of their previous career meetings. They have met on grass on five occasions, including recently in Halle and in the fourth round at Wimbledon last year when Youzhny pinched the opening set on a tiebreak before succumbing 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

“We've played a lot, to be honest, on grass,” admitted Federer. “We know what to expect, both of us.

“I think he's a great player. He can take the ball early. He can, you know, mix it up well. He's a great fighter. I had an extremely tough match with him last year on Court 1 so I expect something similar.

“I hope to recover and play a good match against him, and hopefully victory is on my racket.”

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