Federer Wins Tour Match With New Racquet

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 18th July 2013

Federer Wins Tour Match With New Racquet

epa03791110 Roger Federer of Switzerland returns the ball in the second round match against Germany's Brands during the ATP tournament in Hamburg, Germany, 17 July 2013. EPA/AXEL HEIMKEN |

A few teething troubles couldn’t stop Roger Federer from completing the summer upgrade of his gear as the Swiss won his opening match at Hamburg playing with a new Wilson racquet. The new frame features a 98-inch head as opposed to the 90 he has played with since the start of his world-beating career.

Federer, making scheduling chances after a surprise early Wimbledon loss, is playing on clay at Hamburg this week and Gstaad the next in order to make sure he is fully comfortable with the racquet by the time he makes his Masters 1000 start at Montreal in early August.

After years of advice over switching to a more modern weapon in order to level the playing field with rivals using advanced racquet which generate extra power, the methodical Federer finally made the move. With a few weeks on his hands after exiting Wimbledon, he pulled bit the bullet and gathered Wilson reps in Switzerland to discuss the changes required.

Practice was finally replaced by his opening Hamburg match, where he beat German Daniel Brands 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. “I’ve been very close on numerous occasions to change racquets in a bigger way,” Federer told the ATP website.

“But then very often, time was the issue. Maybe also just the records of Grand Slams – I was always keeping on playing quarters and semis – so then it was also a bit more difficult to change it because of the time.

“This time around, all of a sudden I just had the extra 10 days, two weeks I was looking for, and I really was very serious about it. Wilson flew to Switzerland and we went through the whole process and I was very happy how things went over there.”

The 17-time grand slam winner pronounced himself “pleased how it’s playing. It wasn’t like just jumping into the water, but I’m very happy that under match conditions I was feeling comfortable with it. I’m satisfied.

“After I lost at Wimbledon, I thought this is a good time to go and test the racquets, to take a bit of time off and then add some tournaments and see was there enough time to change or not. I’m happy I did the change and now we’ll see how it goes. So far, so good.”