Tennis: Health means wealth for Federer

Former world number one downs Murray to clinch Dubai Open.

DUBAI: A rejuvenated Roger Federer believes that staying fit will keep him competitive in his 31st year and more than a match for the likes of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.

Federer, who has now won five of the last seven ATP tournaments, clinched his fifth Dubai Open title with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Murray.

It was the Swiss star’s 72nd title of a career which has also yielded a record 16 Grand Slam victories.

“Health clearly has to be there with the amount of matches I’ve played,” said Federer, whose recent renaissance was kick-started at the end of last year. The former world number one collected titles in Basel, Paris as well as the year-ending World Tour Finals.

This year has seen him bag the Rotterdam and Dubai trophies on the back of a run to the Australian Open semi-finals.

“I think the six weeks I took off after Davis Cup and the US Open were necessary if I wanted to play that much and be that successful. So that was a good decision.

“Obviously I’m still sad I didn’t go Shanghai last year because it’s such a wonderful tournament. In hindsight, maybe it was the right thing to do.”

Murray, who still holds an 8-7 career record over Federer, believes that Federder would still comfortably be world number one if more tournaments were played on faster courts like Dubai. “It really suits his game,” said Murray.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2012.