Federer Shouldn’t Have Played Hurt

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 26th October 2013

Federer Shouldn't Have Played Hurt

epa03918271 Switzerland's Roger Federer serves a ball to France's Adrian Mannarino during their first round match for the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, 21 October 2013. EPA/GEORGIOS KEFALAS |

Roger Federer went through most of his storied career without suffering serious injuries. He hasn’t spent this entire 2013 season stretched out on the trainer’s table, but his back, which has been sore in the past, has been giving him problems.

Now the Swiss says that he made some mistakes in trying to play through pain.

He tweaked his back in a win over Ivan Dodig at Indian Wells and continued to play. He managed to tip Stan Wawrinka in the next round in three sets, but then Rafael Nadal destroyed the Swiss in the next round.

“I should never have played after Dodig,” said Federer “With hindsight, I shouldn’t have done that. They were errors.”

Then after Sergiy Stakhovsky upset him early at Wimbledon, he decided to head to the clay. He was lacking matches, but he wasn’t in good enough shape. In Hamburg, Federico DelBonis shocked him in the semis and then in another stunner, Daniel Brands took him down in Gstaad in the first round.

“I should have abandoned in Hamburg, not played Gstaad. Nevertheless, I played, I tried.”

Federer has won his first two matches in Basel this week but does not see himself running the table there, at the Paris/Bercy Masters and the ATP Finals in London.

“I don’t know if my level of play is strong enough to do it now,” he said. “That would be a bit bizarre for me if I start saying that I’m going to win the last 15 matches of the season.”

Topics: 10sballs, Atp, Indian Wells, Ivan Dodig, Roger Federer, Sergiy Stakhovsky, Sports, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tennis, Tennis News