"My Strengths Get Amplified On Grass" - says Federer ahead of Halle

Roger Federer is set to make his return at the NOVENTI OPEN in Halle with the event to start on June 14th and wrap up on June 20th.

Roger Federer made a pretty good return to tennis at the Roland Garros ultimately withdrawing head of his R4 matchup vs Berrettini. The withdrawal was not due to an injury but more so to prevent any wear and tear on the knee after a long and late match vs Koepfer. With Wimbledon not far away Federer is looking ahead to grass.

First on the schedule is the NOVENTI OPEN in Halle which is one of his favourite events. He said:

“Clearly it’s go time, and hopefully this is where the season starts for me. Practising on grass is always fun, super-natural. I’m still taking things easy. The knee always needs extra care, and I will try to push more in practice this afternoon or tomorrow. I hope it will react well to the grass, and I don’t have any negative reactions. I am confident I will be fine in the coming days.”

Federer already got several practices and speaking on them he said:

“Yesterday as I was hitting balls, Ivan [Ljubicic], my coach, was telling me, ‘It’s amazing how clean you hit the ball on grass. How easy it comes to you’. It’s true that I just feel like it’s very simple for me."

Federer also spoke about his body saying:

“The body has to get ready for the grass-court season. Usually, I get a stiff back or feel my glutes, my hamstrings or groin get challenged a little bit at the start like they do at the beginning of the clay-court season. It normally takes me one day to feel comfortable on the grass, maybe not even that.”