World number five Roger Federer revealed that the decision to take part at the German Tennis Championships 2013 took place as soon as he made a surprise second round exit at the Wimbledon Championships late last month.
“I think this decision was made very quickly the day after Wimbledon,” the Swiss star said.
“I thought, what are my options now? Do I need more practice? Do I need more matches? What does my heart say? I really wanted to play some more matches,” he added.
Federer lost in the second round at Wimbledon to Sergiy Stakhovsky and lost significant ranking points in the process since he entered the grasscourt Slam event as the defending champion.
This is Federer’s first time to compete in Hamburg since 2008.
“I first entered into the Top 10 [of the Emirates ATP Rankings] at Hamburg in 2002,” Federer said. “That is something that can never be taken away from Hamburg or me. It was one of my dreams. I have always enjoyed coming back here, winning here. I have had milestone victories here and also times when I have learnt a lot.
“Right now I just want to win a lot of matches, hopefully win a couple of tournaments and then sort of build confidence and go from there into the hard courts,” he added.
When asked whether he watched the Wimbledon final between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, Federer said:
“I didn’t see anything but I did send him (Andy Murray) a message. I was happy for him. I think he’s been very consistent for a long time. Last year, was a huge year for him winning the [London] Olympics, making the Wimbledon final and winning the US Open. I thought after missing Paris to come back and win Wimbledon it was amazing.”
Federer will face Daniel Brands in the second round.
