Federer fully recovered from loss to Fish
Updated: 2008-03-28 09:46
MIAMI, Fla. - World number one Roger Federer said on Thursday he had fully recovered from his semi-final loss to Mardy Fish at last week's Pacific Life Open.
 Roger Federer, of Switzerland, responds to a question during a news conference at the Sony Ericsson Open tennis tournament in Key Biscayne, Fla. Thursday, March 27, 2008. Federer is the number-one seed and plays his first match Saturday night. [Agencies] |
"You move on, you analyse it, then you look forward. I feel fine now. I'm motivated and I'm confident on the practice courts," Federer told reporters at the Sony Ericsson Open.
The 26-year-old Swiss, who has won 12 grand slam titles, has made a slow start to his 2008 campaign due to a bout of glandular fever.
He has played in only three tournaments and is still looking for his first title of the year in Miami.
Federer reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open where he lost to eventual champion Novak Djokovic and lost in the first round in Dubai to Andy Murray.
"The sickness just before the Australian Open was the biggest problem for me, because that really sort of set me back a little bit," he said. "But I still played, I thought, very well throughout the event, and I just felt a little slow throughout."
Federer said he believed that once he got back into the swing of playing matches on a regular basis again his game would flourish as it had in the past.
Most of Federer's closest competitors agree with his positive outlook as his health improves.
Second-ranked Rafael Nadal said: "You know how difficult it is to play four years losing three, four, matches, five? So he didn't have a bad start of the year. He played semi-finals in Australia. He played semi-finals in Indian Wells.
"So I think any one day you have to lose some matches, no? You have to be always very strong mentally."
Sixth-ranked Andy Roddick added: "I'm sure Roger would tell you he's probably not playing his best right now. That being said, you know, I think Roger's earned the right for us to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"It's just, Roger has kind of created a monster similar to Tiger Woods, where it's not really a story about the guy winning."
While Federer is hoping to pick up his third career Sony Ericsson Open a week on Sunday, he is already looking ahead to Roland Garros, where he hopes to win the French Open for the first time, Wimbledon, the Olympics and the U.S. Open.
"I picked this schedule to be in my best possible shape for what's coming up, and that's in the next few weeks and months ahead of me," Federer said. "Especially through the French Open until the U.S. Open where I'll have four massive tournaments in a short span.
"This is really when I want to be at my peak."
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