The Swiss No. 3 seed arrives in Paris for the BNP Paribas Masters with the added incentive of ensuring a shock Australian Open defeat to Andreas Seppi back in January was a one-off when the pair square off in the second round. He leads the pair’s ATP Head to Head 12-1 and has beaten the Italian twice this year since.
The 2011 Paris champion has claimed six titles this year and reached two Grand Slam finals. He is one of only a handful of players to have dented Novak Djokovic’s otherwise brilliant year.
“Considering how I'm playing, who I was able to beat and all these things, I feel like I have played a very good season. I have said in interviews before a few weeks back after Novak was able to turn it up, winning Wimbledon, the US Open, that definitely changed the dynamics, made him the player of the year,” Federer said. “But I was able to beat him twice and win six events. Besides that, I make two slam finals. My body and my mind is all in the right place.
“It's been a fun year so far. And I think looking at Paris and London, obviously now there is huge goal for me coming up in London. I will take it in my stride after Basel and I hope confidence is going to carry me far into the tournament here this week.”
A surprise loss to Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters proved a blessing in disguise for Federer giving him extra time to recuperate ahead of the final indoors stretch. “I was on vacation after Davis Cup for 10 days, was on the beach with my family, had a great time, was able to unwind,” he said.
“I did the same last year, maybe even a bit longer because I knew the year-end was going to be longer with the Davis Cup final. So from that standpoint, especially losing early in Shanghai, the year-end now is not going to be a problem really. It's a couple of events left, that's it.”
The 34 year old reiterated his comments from Basel where he said he would play beyond the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. “I never said I was going to be done at Rio. I just said that was like my next long-term goal I had. It's not around the corner, but it's not that far off anymore,” he said.
“I always sort of plan over a year ahead. Basically 2017 is locked up. That's the way I got to plan if I feel like I'm going to still be playing for some time. As long as I don't know when the end is, that's how you plan, into infinity if you like.”
Date: 4th November 2015, Source: ATP
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