By Chris Oddo | Monday June 11, 2018
Roger Federer, like most others around the tennis world, is wildly impressed with Rafael Nadal’s latest work of clay-court wizardry. Speaking in Stuttgart, ahead of this week’s Mercedes Cup, Federer told media that he has run out of words to express what he thinks of Nadal’s mastery of the clay.
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"It's hard to find any more superlatives for Rafa,” Federer said. “To win a tournament 11 times is per se almost unimaginable. And he did it in Paris and makes it look so easy. You've got to take a bow and congratulate him."
The 20-time major champion, who holds a 2-13 lifetime record against Nadal on clay, and 0-5 at Roland Garros, now has a chance to overtake Nadal as No.1 if he can reach the final at Stuttgart this week.
Federer, who has held the No.1 ranking for a record 309 weeks, is bidding to climb to the top of the ATP rankings for the sixth time. He says he’s not surprised at all that Nadal was able to claim the top ranking by winning Rome and keep it through Roland Garros.
“I kind of expected Rafa to win the French Open,” Federer said. “He was again that good on clay leading into the French Open that I thought he was going to win. So by him winning, it just creates a situation that I was expecting.”
The Swiss has not played since he was upset by Thanasi Kokkinakis in Miami in March. He will open his week in Stuttgart by facing Mischa Zverev. He is keeping expectations pretty low to start, hinting that there will be some rust to remove before he hits top form on his beloved grass.
“I think that’s a bit of extra motivation,” said Federer, who trails Nadal by 100 points in the rankings. “But then again, having lost here last year in the first round, for me, it resets the goals as well, and just take it one at a time and don’t think too far ahead. Not that I did that last year, but on grass, margins are very slim. It’s not so simple, especially when you haven’t played in three months.”
He added: “I’m fresh, I’m healthy. That’s why I’m happy and confident to be here that things can turn out very well for me this week.”