The silver lining: Federer targets World finals, Davis Cup assault

The Swiss believes Paris exit can work in his favour in terms of extra rest.

PARIS:

Roger Federer believes his Paris Masters quarter-final exit will have little effect on his season-ending assault on the World Tour Finals and a first-ever Davis Cup title.

The 33-year-old, 17-time grand slam winner is set to lose ground on Novak Djokovic in the race for the year-ending world number one spot after his straight sets loss to Milos Raonic in the French capital.

But he believes the extra rest he will gain after Friday’s setback can work in his favour ahead of the eight-man London finale, before he leads Switzerland against France in the Davis Cup final.

“I’m going to keep playing on indoor courts [instead of clay, the surface for the Davis Cup final in Lille] for now. I mean, obviously two days more rest is big right now,” said Federer, whose 14-match-winning streak was ended by Raonic. “I’m looking forward to some days off to really rest my body to the max in a short period of time. I have plenty of days to get ready for London, which is kind of nice, as well. I can actually properly practice for a change.”

Federer is assured of his place at the World Finals along with Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka, Marin Cilic, Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych with two places still up for grabs.

“I feel good, I feel all right. And now I have maybe nine days off,” said the Swiss, while adding that he was relieved at being injury-free. “This is something I like to do, because I have been playing a lot lately. So every time I’m off I can stay with my family and I can decide when I go on the court instead of the tournament.”

Besides the Davis Cup – a tournament that Federer has never won – there is also the battle with Djokovic for the world number one spot. Federer’s chances of deposing the Serb were hit by his loss on Friday just hours before Djokovic defeated Murray to make the semi-finals in Paris. However, the world number two played down the importance of being number one at the end of the year. “I always thought it [the race to the number one spot] was going to get solved in London. Whether I am number one at the end of this year or one or two weeks later next year, it doesn’t really matter,” he said. “What this does is I will have a good preparation for London. It’s not that I didn’t want to win here, but I knew it was going to be tough from the start. I accept that.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2014.

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