Fans flock to Federer practise

World No. 1 Roger Federer's first practise session at the Estoril Open Monday saw hundreds of tennis fans scramble for the best positions among the hedge rows surrounding Court 13.

The World No. 1, who was escorted to the court by six security guards, trained with Portuguese No. 1 Rui Machado in windy conditions.
"Since I had practised with Roger before, two years ago here, this time I wasn't caught off-guard by his demanding style," said Machado. "We practised around 80 minutes, we didn't do anything too specific, it was just a normal pre-tournament practice. Conditions were tough, it was really windy.

"We talked a little bit; Roger asked me how many [ATP] Challengers and [ITF] Futures we had in Portugal. He also asked, 'Where do we usually play Davis Cup matches here in Portugal?' I told him we are going to play the next tie here at the Centralito. He said, 'It's a beautiful court."

A tournament record 53,888 spectators attended the Estadio Nacional in 2008, when the Swiss superstar beat Russian Nikolay Davydenko in the final.

Date: 03.05.2010, Source: Estoril

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