My timing was off and my legs felt slower: Federer
dubai — It felt like someone had just died if you saw the look on Roger Federer’s face after the Swiss maestro’s inexplicable defeat against a little-known Russian who had never beaten a top 10 player in the past.
Federer had three match points and yet lost to Evgeny Donskoy.
Federer was serving on 5-1 in the third set tie-break and yet lost the next six points.
The Russian threw the racquet in the air after Federer’s 31st unforced error of the night gave him the greatest win of his life.
No wonder the 18-time Grand Slam winner looked shattered at the post-match press conference on Wednesday night.
“Look, it could be anything right now. It’s tough to judge this one, you know, because I could have won in two sets and I’d be already almost hitting the pillow now thinking about (Lucas) Pouille. But now here I’m explaining what didn’t go well,” Federer said.
“Clearly I can become quite negative about it, but I won’t. It was a tough loss today (Wednesday). Donskoy did well. I just have to move on from here. Clearly I would have liked to do much better here this week.”
The match against Donskoy in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships was only his second game of tennis since that stunning win over his great rival Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final.
The seven-time Dubai champion admitted that the one month gap probably played a part in his struggle to find his best form here.
“I thought I returned way better in the first round. Today (Wednesday) I really struggled on the return. I didn’t quite really time it well,” he said.
“Maybe it wasn’t really committed enough, I think, you know. Commitment in tennis is a big thing. In the first round I was. Today I wasn’t, really. That sort of is a feeling you get and it trickles in an entire game, you know.
“Yeah, my timing was off today. My legs also felt slower out here tonight. I didn’t feel tired all day. I tried to get myself in shape, and, you know, like warm up properly, do all the things I always do, regardless if it’s a first round or a final.
“So there’s no excuse. I just think it’s still the beginning of the comeback and I have to take the positives out of it. I played again in a tournament where I have felt healthy and happy that I got over the injury I sustained at the Australian Open. Maybe it didn’t allow me to practice as much as I was hoping, but at the same time I also needed the rest.
“There was also no problem there, really. I came early. I was perfectly prepared. It’s just a tough loss tonight. I had so many chances. It was crazy.”
Federer said he is no stranger to such defeats in a sport where margins can be small.
“Look, these matches happen frequently, you know, where you just got to somehow find a way to come through. Tonight I just didn’t. I was convinced that if I came through tonight I was going to feel better tomorrow. But tennis is like that. Margins are small,” he said.
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com