Five-time Cincinnati Masters champion Roger Federer is looking forward to defend the title he won a year ago. The Swiss superstar arrived early in Cincinnati to kick off his North American hardcourt campaign. He skipped the Montreal Masters tournament this week to recuperate from a back injury.
“Usually I play well before Slams and I’m happy here,” Federer said. “I always feel very welcome. It’s a nice tournament. The fans love it here. They flock in from many cities around Cincinnati and you really feel they are here for the tennis, which is fun for us players.”
Federer holds the second most number of ATP 1000 Masters title haul at 21 and he’s aiming to close the gap with rival Rafael Nadal who currently has 24 (might be 25 if the Spaniard wins the title in Montreal). He will have a tougher time defending the title as the world’s top 20 have signed up for the event. He’s also testing a larger 98-square inch racquet which so far showed mixed results. He reached the semifinals in Hamburg but lost in his opening round in Gstaad a week later using the new racquet.
“I went on a short break with my family, came back and trained really hard. Right after Wimbledon I was thinking, what else can I do? Is it more training? Is it more time off? How can I use those extra 10-12 days?” Federer said.
“That’s why I added Gstaad and Hamburg to my calendar and then realized I had more time to test racquets, so I did that. Once I went to Hamburg I was feeling great and really eager to play again. Then my back got bad. I carried that over to Gstaad and I was just happy to be playing there. It’s been a difficult past couple of weeks and not the tournament weeks I was hoping for,” he added.
“Right now I need to make sure that I actually enjoy my time on the court and don’t think about a million things and sort of simplify it. The priority is tennis. That’s what it is and that’s what it should be.”
Federer has won the Cincinnati Masters five times (in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2012). He revealed that he hasn’t encountered problems with his back during his practice sessions this week
“I arrived here very early and I’ve been practising pain-free and playing really well, actually. I’m very pleased to be back on tour again,” he said.
Meanwhile, last year’s runner-up Novak Djokovic is aiming to finally break the curse and win the Cincinnati Masters for the first time to achieve the first Career Golden Masters. He will become the first player to win at least one of the nine ATP Masters 1000 events offered in the ATP Tour. The Serbian world number one is a four-time runner-up at this event.
