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Fedex happy with calendar
World No. 2 and one of the game’s all-time greats Roger Federer said that only time will tell if a shorter season will help the players on the ATP Tour.
Federer went down to World No 1 Rafael Nadal in the final of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. The event kick-started the new season.
“I never was a big complainer of a long season because I’m not for taking breaks during the season. When you have to play which is ok too since we have time to rest and heal.
“It gives the players who never stop to play a proper break and I think that’s a good thing. The gap between the US Open and the World Tour finals is jammed right now so only time will tell how the players will cope with that. It is about trying to accommodate all the players at the ATP.
“But there are so many individual tournaments out there and if you move on little thing, the whole building can collapse.
“We have to manage all the demands of the tournaments and the media. And the players obviously are the driving force because we are the one travelling and doing the hard work,” Federer said.
About the new season, Federer said: “It was very good tennis down here. But in Doha, we have to start from scratch. It will be a tough tournament there. Rafa is there again so it is not going to be easy to win that one. But I have been able to do it before and then we will watch how it goes in Doha and then we have enough time to rest and get ready for the Australian open. I will be ready and I hope I get wins in Doha to boost my confidence.”
Federer said it was a good match against Nadal in Abu Dhabi. “I thought it was a good match with some good rallies, good atmosphere, great crowd and a nice stadium. It really was a pleasure to play here in Abu Dhabi against Rafa for the first time and we lived up to the expectations. And it was a good match,” he said.
He said that it was not only about Nadal and himself when it came to Grand Slams. “You never know, in four weeks you could have a new Grand Slam champion. That’s what is good and tough about tennis. It is a knockout system and there is no safe playing just like that and it is hard work.
You are the one running and nobody else is doing the job for you and. It is a lot of travelling and it is hard to keep on winning. It’s a special Australian Open coming up with me being the defending champion. “Tennis is really going to be exciting down in Australia. There can be someone else coming and break through but obviously like Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and I’m sure they will give us a run for the money,” said Federer.
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