In Roger Federer's words: 'It was disappointing that it happened again today..'

After failing to reach the semi-final in Indian Wells and Miami, Roger Federer scored two wins against France in the Davis Cup before taking a couple of weeks off and turning his attention to clay. The Swiss stormed over his opponents in Munich, securing the title after spending less than five hours on the court overall and heading to Rome where he was a candidate for a deep run as well. In the first round, Roger defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 7-5 in an hour and 27 minutes for his third victory in the Italian capital. The Swiss played better on both the first and second serve, suffering two breaks and overcoming an early deficit in set number two to race past the Frenchman and finish the job in straight sets.

"The beginning of the second set was tough. I usually fall in the second set after winning the opener, and that's not what I want. It was disappointing that it happened again today and I tried to come back as much as I could. It took me eight or nine games until I got back, trying to put some returns back and mount pressure on Paul-Henri. It was a difficult match for me as I had only an hour and a half on the practice court, playing with different balls and bounce in comparison to Munich last week. When you change the venue, it's never easy in the opening encounter. Also, Mathieu hasn't been playing that well recently and I knew he would be motivated for this one. After winning the match, I'm more relaxed now, feeling the balls nicely. I would still like to play more aggressive tennis and come to the net more but that's not easy against these guys; their return and passings are top-notch. Even today, I felt like I hit a great volley or approach, and out of sudden, your rival passes you and you can't do anything about that."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2LouwBC