Roger Federer shares how Rafael Nadal inspires him on clay
In an interview to the New York Times, Roger Federer shared his thoughts on the concept of sliding on clay. Federer takes inspiration from his rivals in that. “Sometimes the challenge for me is not to slide just to slide. I think that’s where Rafa and the top clay-courters do so well. They only slide if they really have to. Because naturally, you think, oh sliding is fun, and you start having almost too much fun. You get sucked in", said the 37-year-old.
French Open was the last Grand Slam won by Federer for the first time, in 2009 defeating Robin Soderling in a straight-set final. This is where he achieved the Career Grand Slam. “I had to come to love it and had to come to embrace it", admitted the Basel native. "It didn’t come like, hey, French Open this is it. That was always going to be Wimbledon. I remember seeing Becker, Edberg and Sampras all holding up that trophy, and all three of those guys didn’t do that at the French. So my heroes did it at Wimbledon, so naturally, Wimbledon was always going to be my No. 1.”
The Chief Executive of the Madrid Open Gerard Tsobanian commented on how the Federer's appearance in the Spanish event boosted the tickets sale ahead of this year's event. The Swiss will compete in the Spanish tournament for the first time since 2015 when he lost to Nick Kyrgios in a three-set opening round clash. Federer last triumphed in Madrid back in 2012, the only year where they played on clay. “We saw an increase in ticket sales as soon as we announced he was coming. It’s a superstar coming to play but also the fear that it might be his last tournament in this city, so people didn’t want to let the opportunity pass", said Tsobanian.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2VcBrp3
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