Roger Federer- “I’m Not Here to Chase These Records”

Published 05/14/2019, 5:51 PM EDT

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World Number three, Roger Federer will be playing his first match in Rome tomorrow after three long years, and he will be opening against, Joao Sousa who knocked down Frances Tiafoe earlier today. The last time when he stepped on the Italian court was in 2016 and in his plethora ATP titles, the Roman trophy seems to be a major missing.

The Swiss maestro, Roger Federer landed in Italy after losing to Dominic Thiem in Madrid and he decided to fly to Rome with an intention for having an auxiliary rehearsal for the Roland Garros 2019.

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“I’m hoping for some extra information that could help me for Paris,” Roger Federer said. “But at the end of the day, I’m here to enjoy myself, enjoy the city, the food, the fans, the court here in Rome. I’ve been coming here since 1999 or 2000 and I love being here.

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Roger Federer likes to be in the Lazio region and he reminisces his junior days on the circuit in the city of Rome. Federer mentioned that Rome Masters 2019 was part of his itinerary since the time he had decided to feature in Madrid.

“This might be my favourite city in the world away from Switzerland so this is a special place for me. I also played the juniors in Italy a lot so I love this country and its people. I was really in the mood to come here after Madrid instead of being home and practising,” he continued.

Roger Federer is delighted to be in Rome and he is here to enjoy to the maximum. “The coming here yesterday and practising a little bit in the afternoon and again this morning, I feel like having some fun on the clay and see what happens. Any result is a good result so I am happy about that,” Federer mentioned.

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The Italian Open is one of the prestigious events in tennis, Roger Federer senses the emptiness of not having won this tournament and he also aspires to play a match against Rafael Nadal. “Of course I would have loved to win this tournament, especially the epic final with Rafa”, he said.

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As he mentioned before, Roger Federer has come to Rome to have a pleasant time and simultaneously give his best on the Roman sludge. He is not looking forward to attaining a different niche in the sport.

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But I’m not here trying to win it otherwise I should have also played Monte Carlo because I haven’t won that and then I should have played another 20 events that I haven’t been able to win in my life,” the Swiss maestro continued.

He is contented with all his accomplishments and his Italian Open 2019 engagement is certainly a stress buster. “I’m not here to chase these records and having to win every tournament possible but if I can have a deep run here this week that would make me very happy,” Roger Federer concluded.

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Mahalakshmi Murali

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Mahalakshmi Murali joined EssentiallySports in 2018 as a tennis author and has gone on to pen more than 1800 engaging articles, probing into various aspects of the sport and its illustrious players. With her expertise on the sport, Mahalakshmi has interviewed stalwarts from the sport such as Serena WIlliams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou and Kevin Anderson’s physio, Carlos Costa. Equipped with her vast experience and a keen understanding of the sport, Mahalakshmi now co-heads the tennis department.
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