World number eight Roger Federer is hoping to win this week’s Dubai Tennis Championships. If he achieves the feat, he would win this ATP 500 hardcourt event for the sixth time. The Swiss tennis superstar has an impressive 37-5 record at this event and his most recent title win was back in 2012 where he defeated Andy Murray in the final.
“Physically I’m really fit, which is very encouraging,” said Federer. “I must say, I’m very confident about how I’m feeling. I can run for every ball. I’m waking up in the morning with no pain. I think this is as good as I’ve felt in probably a year. That’s good a good sign looking ahead and now I just have to stay injury free.
Federer has had a promising start of the 2014 season wherein he reached the final of the Brisbane International and reached the semifinals of the Australian Open 2014 tournament.
“It’s always been an important tournament because usually when I’ve played well in Dubai, I’ve played well the rest of the year,” Federer said in an interview with Dave Luddy for the DTC Radio Show. “Clearly it’s not always that way, and I don’t want to become crazy superstitious about it. It’s a tough draw here, so there’s pressure trying to win this and play well here.
“The conditions are rather quick, so it’s hard to control the ball well. So when you can play good tennis here, it feels like you can play good tennis anywhere else. I’ve struggled in the early rounds here in previous years sometimes, but overall it’s been a very successful hunting ground for me and I hope for another good run this year.”
The 32-year old is one of the five top ten players participating in the event. Defending champion and world number two Novak Djokovic heads a tough field which includes Tomas Berdych, Juan Martin del Potro and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Federer is seeded fourth and would have to meet Djokovic in the semifinals.
“It’s going to be tough,” said Federer. “I think Berdych is playing really well. Jo-Willy is always very dangerous. Clearly the favourite for me is Novak. He had a great end to last year, and then had a solid start to this year. Could have won against Stan at the Australian Open and who knows, maybe gone on to win the tournament there. I see him as the favourite for this tournament, plus he’s played really well here. The victor is going to go through him at this tournament.”
