Federer Upbeat about Performance in Monte-Carlo, Unsure about Madrid

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Federer Upbeat about Performance in Monte-Carlo, Unsure about Madrid

Roger Federer wasn’t able to get past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday at the Monte-Carlo quarterfinals, but the 34-year-old Swiss came away very pleased with the way he played in his first tournament since knee surgery.

More: Nadal Wins 9th Monte-Carlo Title

“It was a good match,” Federer said of the loss. “It was nice to play an intense match. I'm happy how the body reacted. So many good things this week. It's all positive for me.”

Federer, who underwent surgery in early February after a freak accident at home while he was running a bath for his daughter, says he’s curious to see how his body feels after a day off.

“I hope my knee and my body is going to be okay the next couple of days,” he said. “If I'm good, I might go practice tomorrow as well just to get the body into maybe a rhythm of playing maybe four days straight at a very intense level. If I feel like I need a break, the team tells me to rest, I'll do that tomorrow.”

Federer says he remains unsure about whether or not he will play in Madrid, which begins May 1st.

“In ten days I believe I will be able to make a decision about Madrid,” Federer said. “I'll see how I experience this week and I'll see what I'll do for Madrid. I definitely won't play the next couple of weeks. And Madrid I'll decide probably like 10 days from now. Rome I'll decide probably in 15 days from now.”

Overall it was a successful week for the World No. 3. After defeating Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets, Federer fell to Tsonga in three. Though he couldn’t take advantage of a draw that saw Novak Djokovic go out early, he has to be thrilled about how he has recovered from a very difficult situation. The explosiveness was still in his movement, and the crackle was still present in his groundstrokes. If anything was missing, Federer says, it was the serve.

“Maybe my serve is still up and down,” he said. “Especially on clay, more balls are coming back. But I'm very satisfied with my performance.” He added: “It was good, but I need to spend more hours on the court. I'm returning a lot better. It's better than other beginnings of the clay court season. I don't know if it's because of the new racquet. I'll have to keep that and my serve will come as I play more matches. But I'm very happy the way I played. Backhand is working well. The forehand is there.”

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