I’m lacking confidence in finding my clay court game again, admits Roger Federer

Michael Graham 01 Apr 2019 10:47 AM

Roger Federer says he is “not very confident” going into clay court season, although his Miami Open success has taken the pressure off him.

Federer has skipped clay in recent times, playing just two days on the surface in the last two years.

He has decided to return to the red dirt this season, though, probably starting with the Madrid Masters, but he is worried about how quickly he’ll adapt againt to the highly specialised surface.

“I’m not very confident going into this clay court season, I can tell you that,” admitted Federer.

“I didn’t even remember how to slide anymore. I’m taking baby steps at this point.

“I didn’t play one point – not one shot – on clay last year. Two years ago I played two days. Three years ago I played not feeling great in Monte-Carlo and Rome and all that.

“It’s been so little that I really don’t know what to expect.

“What this win (Miami) does for me is it just takes even more pressure off from the clay-court season.

“That’s what I’m looking at now the next four or five weeks, figuring out how we are going to go about it.

“I’m very excited. It’s a good challenge, a good test.”

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