Roger Federer, who skipped Monte Carlo due to illness in 2003, made his season debut on clay in Munich, conquered the title in Bavaria in a dominant style and headed to Rome, where he added another impressive performance.
The Swiss defeated five rivals to advance to the third Masters 1000 final and the first since Hamburg a year ago, dropping a set and placing himself with excellent chances of winning the tournament where he did not play well in previous years.
Roger defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu, Mariano Zabaleta, Tommy Robredo and Filippo Volandri to enter the last four, losing just one set so far and finishing the job against Juan Carlos Ferrero in less than an hour, with the Spaniard retiring after going. losing 6-4, 4-2.
Thus, Roger scored the title duel against Felix Mantilla or Yevgeny Kafelnikov, happy with his performance and hoping to have a chance in the final. Federer was aware of Ferrero’s shoulder problems, he saw him in the treatment room a couple of times, but not knowing how bad it was.
He also said that the Spaniard had played a lot of tennis in the previous weeks while taking that couple of weeks off, which helped him save energy. The Swiss disapproved of playing the best-of-five final on Sunday and immediately moving to Hamburg for another Masters Series event the following week, saying he would try to save at least some energy for next week.
Roger Federer reached the final in Rome 2003
“Juan Carlos’s shoulder was not good this week; I’ve seen him in the treatment room a couple of times but didn’t know how bad he was. I didn’t expect him to give up.
It is always special to reach the final; It feels good to win a couple of games, especially in the Masters Series where you have to get six wins in seven days. It takes away a lot of energy, and tomorrow is the best of five final; I don’t know if that’s the right choice, as Hamburg is coming next week.
I will do my best here, hoping that I will have some energy left for the title defense in Hamburg. It’s not easy to play five weeks in a row on clay, especially if you make it to the final.
It can last three weeks without problems; it’s getting more challenging in the room and more complicated with each other. In addition, Juan Carlos played the Davis Cup and it cost him a lot. Last week in Munich, there weren’t too many real clay players like here in Rome; It’s interesting to see all those players here and in Hamburg next week as it helps you better prepare for Roland Garros, “said Roger Federer.
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