Roger Federer tweaked his back as he beat Croatian Ivan Dodig 6-3, 6-1, but the Swiss holder says he’ll pull up fit from the niggle when he plays for the quarter-finals against good friend Stanislas Wawrinka at the Indian Wells Masters.
The 31-year-old was much more concerned by the 4.7 magnitude earthquake which shook the Californian desert, rattling the house where he is staying with his wife and twin girls. Like the rest of the tennis world on-site, Federer confessed to being uneasy amid the 10 second of ground juddering.
“For the first few seconds I wasn’t sure what was happening. I ran outside. I was at the house and I didn’t know how long it was going to last, if it was going to get worse from there, or if the worst was already past.
“Thank God the family wasn’t in the house, they were outside somewhere. It was a very strange feeling to have, because you see the windows shaking and you look up and realize you’re under a structure. It was quite scary for a second there.”
As for his back, the second seed is confident that a familiar injury is already being put right. “I finished the match, I did treatment, just to make sure you do all the right things at the right time. So I’m not too worried.
“I’ve gone through it so many times where you feel a little tweak. You might play next day; now this time around I have a day off, extra time. It’s happened during Grand Slams, during tournaments, in practice. It’s just something you learn to deal with.
“And as long as I keep on playing, it’s all right. After this I also know I have a longer break to recover, so from that standpoint I’m not worried at all.”
©Daily Tennis News Wire
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