"The objective is not Roland-Garros, it is the grass season and Wimbledon", repeated the Swiss with 20 Grand Slam trophies - that Rafael Nadal has a golden opportunity to overtake at the end of the fortnight Parisian - after his defeat at the entrance to Geneva (against Andujar) ten days ago. It was only his third game of the year, his only on clay, after a victory (against Evans) and a loss (against Basilashvili) in Doha in early March for his return after more than a year of 'absence. His only third in nearly sixteen months, too. In Grand Slam, we haven't seen him since his semi-final lost at the 2020 Australian Open against Novak Djokovic. "Having played so little and knowing what level I am at,how could I imagine winning Roland-Garros? I'm just a realist, I know I'm not going to win the tournament. And anyone who thinks that I will or could do it is wrong, ”says the one who was still a semi-finalist in 2019.“ Maybe more crazy things have happened, but I don't believe that in the last fifteen years, someone has tumbled in at 40 and after more than a year without playing, and won straight away ”, launches the Balois.and won straight away ”, launches the Balois.and won straight away ”, launches the Balois.
"I have said it several times: for me, the season is really starting on grass."
Roger Federer
“I know my limits at the moment,” he insists. And everything is thought out and done for the grass season, and the rest of the season. I have said it several times: for me, the season is really starting on grass. ” Since arriving in Paris in the middle of the week, Federer has been discreet. He did not give a pre-tournament press conference. And only a handful of curious people followed his first two training sessions at the Central, two hours with the Russian revelation Aslan Karatsev on Thursday evening, and almost as many with the Belgian David Goffin the following afternoon. The draw placed him in the same half of the table as his two big rivals, Nadal and Djokovic, and even booked him a possible meeting with the world No.1 in the quarter-finals. But the stake for the Swiss, which will begin Monday or Tuesday against theUzbek Denis Istomin (203rd and from qualifying) is to find the rhythm of the matches, his benchmarks and his automatisms, both physically and mentally. "In the long run, you get used to being on the track again, and that's how you'll start making better decisions again, and small mistakes are more likely to not happen sooner. than the opposite, ”he explained in Geneva.and that small mistakes will have a better chance of not happening rather than the opposite, ”he explained in Geneva.and that small mistakes will have a better chance of not happening rather than the opposite, ”he explained in Geneva.
"In two days, I found that he had raised his level of play a lot, that he had really picked up the pace."
Gael Monfils
“For that you have to go for it, it's not always funny because you know your limits. Of course, it's difficult for me because people expect a lot and I have high expectations myself (...) But it's part of the process that I have to go through and that's why I I can't be too hard on myself, ”continued Federer, who stayed to train for two days with Gaël Monfils afterwards. What did the French player think of it? “In two days, I found that he had raised his level of play a lot, that he had really picked up the pace. I saw the difference in its movement, in its quality of strike, describes Monfils. I can imagine that with a little more time, training with the guys this week, he must have really picked up the pace."" I think he will arrive in good shape. If he comes here, it is because he still feels good to do something very good, he believes. I'm as excited as you are to see how he handles this. ” "I still have time", proclaimed Federer from Geneva, head to his summer goals. Wimbledon opens in a month. The Tokyo Olympics - only Olympic singles gold missing from its prestigious record - in two.Olympic gold in singles missing from its prestigious record - in two.Olympic gold in singles missing from its prestigious record - in two.
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