|
Friday, February 18, 2005
Federer ready to fill gap in trophy cabinet
By Pritha Sarkar, Reuters
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands - Roger Federer
will need to clear a towering obstacle if he is to get his hands
on the World Indoor Tournament crown this weekend.
That hurdle happens to be the 1.96 metre tall Mario Ancic
and the duo will lock horns for the second time in Saturday's
semi-finals, with Federer looking to make amends for his 2002
first-round defeat at Wimbledon.
"I lost to Ancic quite a while ago but I never won a set
against him. It will be interesting," said the Basel FC fan.
"This is the position where I like to be in, semi-final days
and this is when I usually raise my game and I hope I can do it
again this week."
Federer has already described this week's event as strange
because it is one of a handful of tournaments he compete at this
year in which he is not the defending champion.
"Here is one of the few ones that I didn't win so something
quite bizarre this pressure not being there (to defend points),"
said Federer.
Having played at the Ahoy arena for five of the past six
years, Federer is determined to add his name to the circular
billboard of champions that can be seen around centre court.
The popular Swiss lost only six times in 2004, the first of
those coming in the Rotterdam quarter-finals against British
number one Tim Henman.
It must have been a strange experience for a player who went
on to capture 11 titles, including three of the four grand slam
crowns last year. Impressively, he achieved all that without the
services of a coach.
This year, however, the script has not gone according to
plan and Federer is not willing to suffer any more slip ups.
He has already lost his Australian Open title, losing in the
semi-finals despite holding a match point against eventual
champion Marat Safin, and feels he has to make amends.
"It (losing) was a good story for the season as I'm third in
the (ATP Champions) race and I definitely want to get up there
so I need good results and might as well start at Rotterdam,"
said Federer.
Unlike his previous three opponents, Federer is aware he
will have to face the bullet-like deliveries of Ancic and an
attacking game plan.
However, having built an almost indestructible aura around
himself since his loss to Ancic, Federer said he will be ready.
"I don't want the pressure off my shoulders as I always want
to win. As long as you win, you're confident and it's the best
way to play tennis," he said.
|
