FEDERER “SO MUCH MORE CONFIDENT” HEADING INTO CINCINNATI OPENER BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 12th August 2014

FEDERER "SO MUCH MORE CONFIDENT" HEADING INTO CINCINNATI OPENER BY RICKY DIMON

epa04348893 Roger Federer of Switzerland waits for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France to serve during the final match of the Rogers Cup mens tennis tournament in Toronto, Canada, 10 August 2014. EPA/WARREN TODA |

Last year heading into the Western & Southern Open, Roger Federer was mired in one of the biggest slumps of his career. The 17-time Grand Slam champion had lost to Sergiy Stakhovsky in the Wimbledon second round, to Federico Delbonis in the Hamburg semifinals, and to Daniel Brands in his opening match in Gstaad. He then skipped the Rogers Cup.

“When I came here, expectations were very, very low,” Federer reflected in his Tuesday press conference. “I was just hoping to win a match.”

The Swiss ended up winning two, both hard-fought victories over Germans Philipp Kohlschreiber and Tommy Haas. He eventually lost to Rafael Nadal in a high-quality quarterfinal that went to three sets. Nadal, of course, went on to win the Cincinnati title and the U.S. Open. All in all, the week was an encouraging moral victory for Federer. This time around, though, he is in it for much more than just moral victories.

“It’s totally different, my approach this year to last year,” the No. 2 seed assured. “I feel so much better; so much more confident.”

But Federer will have to be wary of his opening match on Wednesday, when he will go up against Vasek Pospisil for the third time in his career. Federer leads the head-to-head series 2-0 following a 7-5, 6-3 victory at the 2011 Rogers Cup and a more hard-fought 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-5 decision last fall in Basel.

Pospisil is much different player than what he was in 2011, and perhaps even different than what he was last fall. The 24-year-old Canadian is now a Grand Slam champion (Wimbledon doubles this summer with Jack Sock). He rounded into singles form with quarterfinal showings in Bogota and Atlanta followed by a runner-up performance in Washington, D.C. Pospisil kicked off his Cincinnati campaign by saving three match points and outlasting Radek Stepanek 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(4).

Federer is back in action three days after losing the Toronto final to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The 33-year-old noted in his press conference that Tsonga’s loss to Mikhail Youzhny on Tuesday does not bode well for him. However, Federer played one less match than Tsonga last week and has an extra day of rest because of his first-round bye.

Roger Federer of Switzerland returns to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in the final match of the Rogers Cup mens tennis tournament in Toronto, Canada, 10 August 2014. EPA/WARREN TODA

“The fear is always there from the first rounds regardless of how you approach a tournament. If I do win that first [match], I have higher hopes to going really deep into the tournament and even winning it. But right now the focus is getting through the first round.”

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Cincinnati, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Rafael Nadal, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Tennis, Western & Southern Open

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10sBalls_com says:

August 12, 2014 at 7:59 pm

@rogerfederer “SO MUCH MORE CONFIDENT” HEADING INTO #CINCINNATI OPENER BY RICKY DIMON (@RD_Tennistalk)- http://t.co/8Y3wkiPik1 #tennis #atp
RD_Tennistalk says:

August 12, 2014 at 8:00 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: @rogerfederer “SO MUCH MORE CONFIDENT” HEADING INTO #CINCINNATI OPENER BY RICKY DIMON (@RD_Tennistalk)- http://t.co/8Y3w…
jackson_catyjac says:

August 12, 2014 at 8:07 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: @rogerfederer “SO MUCH MORE CONFIDENT” HEADING INTO #CINCINNATI OPENER BY RICKY DIMON (@RD_Tennistalk)- http://t.co/8Y3w…