“Did not know if I wanted to play the Roland Garros again,” Roger Federer on crushing loss against his fierce rival

“Did not know if I wanted to play the Roland Garros again,” Roger Federer on crushing loss against his fierce rival

Roger Federer

Roger Federer has often skipped the clay court season in the past few years, in order to preserve his body for the glass court season. However, this year, the 39-year old has decided to compete on clay, and hopes to be at his 100% prior to Wimbledon Championships. Federer will first compete at Geneva Open 2021, and will then move onto the French Open, which commences later this month.

Roger Federer skipped the French Open for three consecutive years from 2016-2018. Last year, the Swiss was recovering from a knee injury which ruled him out of the tournament. His only appearance in Paris in the last five years came in 2019, where he did a pretty fine job. The 20-time Grandslam champion managed to reach the semifinals, where he was eventually defeated by his fierce rival, Rafael Nadal in straight sets.

Roger Federer reveals his disappointment after loss against Rafael Nadal

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Roger Federer was in impressive form at the French Open 2019, and progressed to the semifinals without dropping a single set. He defeated the likes of Kei Nishikori, Casper Ruud on his way to the last four. However, he came up against a familiar opponent in the semifinals, Rafael Nadal who crushed him in straight sets.

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The Spaniard won the match by a score-line of 6-3,6-4, 6-2 and went on to lift his 12th French Open title later. Rafael Nadal has defeated the Swiss six times in Paris, and is simply invincible on the clay surface. Roger Federer was dejected after his loss against Nadal in Paris in 2019, and revealed that he never wanted to play Roland Garros again.

“In 2019 after my loss to Rafael Nadal, I did not know if I wanted to play the Roland Garros again in my career,” said Federer. However, in some good news for tennis fans, the Swiss made an interesting decision to step on to the clay courts this season.

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