June Chris Oddo 06/19/2017

Federer Talks Stuttgart Loss and Wimbledon Hopes

Roger Federer talks about his quest to improves his form on grass at this week’s Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany, saying that he’s always felt comfortable at the tournament that he was won eight titles at, and adding that he expects to have success.“I think that my game is perfectly suited for the grass, but after losing first round in Stuttgart I have to maybe reassess my goals and just be happy with winning the first round win here in Halle—I’m not sure,” Federer said. “But honestly I’ve played so well here in Halle that I can come in confident. The year’s been great. It wasn’t all bad in Stuttgart, I should have won that match against Tommy but at the end down the stretch he played more committed tennis.“Maybe that’s exactly the kind of loss I needed to fuel myself for what’s to come now in Halle and Wimbledon.”Federer fell in the first round to Tommy Haas at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart last week, despite holding a match point. That loss marked the first time that Federer has lost consecutive matches on grass in fifteen years. He will face Yen-Hsun Lu in first-round action at Halle on Tuesday.

Federer on tap for Tuesday at @GERRYWEBERWORLD.OOP: pic.twitter.com/m25BvBRA8A
— TennisNow (@Tennis_Now) June 19, 2017

Federer also gave his take on Rafael Nadal’s Roland Garros run, as well as the struggles of Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic.“I think the second part of the season is going to be really, really crucial for Andy and for Novak too,” Federer said. “I think it’s really gearing up to be a quite exciting second part of the season.” ]]>