By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Three-time Madrid champion Roger Federer will return to the clay-court Masters event in May—his first clay-court appearance in two years.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
May day just got more exciting.
Roger Federer will return to play the Mutua Madrid Open, set for May 3-12th at the Caja Mágica.
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It will be Federer's first ATP clay-court appearance since he lost to Dominic Thiem in the 2016 Rome round of 16.
"Federer is one of the best players of all time, it’s no secret," said Feliciano López, tournament director of the Mutua Madrid Open. "We are happy because his return to Madrid is a gift to the tournament, but above all the fans will be able to see a unique player in the Caja Mágica. Having the Swiss player back on clay with Djokovic and Nadal is going to be unmissable."
The 20-time Grand Slam champion said at the start of the season he planned to play at least one clay-court event in preparation for his Roland Garros return.
The 37-year-old Swiss last played Roland Garros in 2015 bowing to eventual-champion Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals.
A three-time Madrid champion, Federer last played Madrid in 2015 losing to Nick Kyrgios in three tie break sets.
Federer owns a 35-8 career record in Madrid.