Federer: Knee is Fine, but Different

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Federer: Knee is Fine, but Different

After his 6-3, 6-4 second-round win over Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in Monte-Carlo, Roger Federer opened up about the state of his knee in his post-match press conference. The 34-year-old Swiss, playing in his first match since January, says he’s no longer worried about pushing it.

More: Nadal Pushes Past Bedene in Monte-Carlo Opener

“The knee felt really good, like in practice,” Federer said. “Felt like I didn't have to worry about it. I could just go freely. I just kind of went for the dropshot without having second thoughts. It's only building on my confidence now, which is great."

Federer stressed that he had no expectations about his first match on the clay—he was just happy to have the experience and put a match under his belt.

“I said beforehand, it was always going to be a winning result today, regardless of winning or losing essentially,” he said. “I'm just very happy I'm back on the tour again. I think I got what I needed. So we'll see how I feel tomorrow, tonight, the next day. Sometimes after a match, you can feel it for two days. At this point I'm pretty confident I'll feel fine.

That said, Federer did admit that the knee doesn’t quite feel the same to him after he had surgery in early February.

“I'm at the point where the knee's solid, and it's fine. I mean, the knee does feel different after the operation. It just does feel like a different knee. I guess I also got to get used to that. It's not painful or anything. It just feels different because I've had a different knee for 34 years. So that's why it's a different feel, but not in a bad way, I must tell you.”

Federer will square off with Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut on Thursday in Monte-Carlo. Federer owns a 4-0 lifetime edge against Bautista Agut, and has won all ten of their previously played sets.

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