“I had to recover,” said Federer, who has been training in Dubai, on Monday. “It was a tough stretch in America. I played really well. It was a tough match against Novak [Djokovic] in the end. I felt I needed some rest first of all to get mentally and physically fresh again.
“Once I felt I was ready to go again, I started to work out extremely hard. I had almost three weeks on my hands which I used to do a lot of fitness and a lot of tennis. I had a good time [and] was able to work hard, spend time with the family. I'm ready to go here now.”
Federer has travelled to China without his wife, Mirka, and twin daughters, Charlene Riva and Myla Rose.
“It's a bit slower, that's for sure,” admitted Federer. “But I have good friends here. I have a lot of things to do with some of my great sponsors. Obviously, it also allows me to sleep a bit more and practise hard. I do miss them, of course.”
The Swiss superstar became the second player to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals this year. He has a 44-11 record on the season, highlighted by lifting his 16th Grand Slam championship title at the Australian Open in January.
When asked if his season has been a disappointment by his high standards, Federer quickly retorted, “The season's not over yet. Let's not come to the conclusion here that this has been a bad year or that I'm not happy with it.
“I still have five tournaments to play. This season is far from over. I feel like I'm playing really well and feeling well. We'll see how the season plays out and then I'll make a statement how the season was.”
Third seed Federer will play either American John Isner or Polish qualifier Lukasz Kubot in his first match this week. He is looking to win his 64th tour-level title, which would draw him level with Pete Sampras.
“I definitely wanted to make the trip here to Shanghai,” said Federer. “The fans are amazing here. I always played great here. I never had a bad tournament. Now that it's an [ATP World Tour] Masters 1000, me having also opened the stadium here, it's extra special coming here and playing outdoors in Shanghai, which I'm very excited about.”
Date: 12.10.2010, Source: ATP
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