A shorter offseason is rarely good news for a tennis player but Roger Federer feels it has helped him maintain his momentum and hit top form so early in the year.
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The Swiss, who ended his 2014 campaign with a final appearance at the ATP Finals and a Davis Cup win, begins his quest for a fifth Australian Open crown against Taipei’s Lu Yen-Hsun on Monday.
The world No.2 went to India at the end of last year to take part in the exhibition IPTL and also played a charity match with Stan Wawrinka in Zurich. And while he admits he will have to reassess his schedule following the conclusion of the action in Melbourne, he feels his game is in the right place thanks to the shorter break.
“Usually, you start the Australian Open not quite knowing where your game’s at,” said Federer, who is 2-0 lifetime against the 47th-ranked Lu. “But because I didn’t take that much time off, I got right back into practice. I played some exhibitions. I kind of knew right away when I picked up the racquet again, you know, feeling good.
“I practiced actually very hard, to be quite honest, because I played so many matches I didn’t have enough practice. So I came out of it a bit tired. But that’s normal, when you practice hard. That’s why for me it was important to not over-train when I came to Brisbane, not over-train in these middle weeks, so I maintain the freshness.”
Things played out differently for Australian teenager Nick Kyrgios, who played a full IPTL schedule during his offseason and is now struggling with a back problem that forced him out of the Hopman Cup earlier this month.
The 53rd-ranked 19-year-old, who faces Argentina’s Federico Delbonis in round one today, says he is fit enough to play but that he could have done a few things differently with regards to his preparation.
“Sometimes you can’t avoid injuries. It’s just part of the game. I’ve done everything I can with my physios, my training. I think that I’m confident I can still make a pretty big impact,” said the Wimbledon quarter-finalist.
“I’m only 19, so I wouldn’t want to do anything silly to shorten my career in any way. I’ve just got to manage it. It’s a tough call.”