Roger Federer on Roland Garros- “Everything at Sea-Level Plays Different”

World Number three, Roger Federer just took 52 minutes to take down his first round opponent, Richard Gasquet in his clay court return match at Mutua Madrid Open 2019. The tournament draw for the Spanish Masters event predicts a Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic semifinal followed by Rafael Nadal in the finals for the Swiss.

The 37-year-old, Roger Federer talks about the Madrid clay exhibiting similar characteristics as that of synthetic courts. The temperatures and elevation of Madrid are different from that of Paris and these conditions do impact the game. 

“I think Paris is going to be very different”, Roger Federer said. “Of course, you add maybe some colder conditions and rain to it, you know. You’ll have to play differently, have a different approach, a different mindset. But I think here in Madrid you can definitely come in with a hard court mindset, to some extent”.

Also, the courts of the Spanish capital are different from other clay court events.“Take the ball on and it’s easier to stay in the sets just because you can serve your way out of trouble which maybe you cannot do time and time again on other clay court events like Monaco, maybe Barcelona”, the Swiss legend added.

Federer’s clay itinerary shows Madrid Masters followed by the clay major in Paris. He will be playing at Roland Garros after four years. He continued to speak about the changes which he will experience while traveling from Spain to France.

“I haven’t been there in so long, but everything at sea-level plays different, you know. So that’s why I know Madrid is not Paris, you know, and then, of course, I don’t know how the conditions are going to be exactly, I haven’t played with the balls over there”, Roger Federer added.

“There’s going to be a switch in ball manufacturers as well, so we have to see. This is definitely not traditional clay courts in the sense because you can play and this is altitude for us players,” the Swiss concluded.