Roger Federer will seek to resurrect his disappointing season in front of expectant home fans this week after struggling to adapt to a new, larger racquet.
The 17-time Grand Slam winner was beaten 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-4) by Argentine qualifier Federico Delbonis in the semi-finals at Hamburg on Saturday.
Federer, 31, will return to the claycourt Swiss Open for the first time in nine years with his world ranking down to fifth for the first time in a decade, having been beaten in the second round at Wimbledon in his previous tournament.
Federer said he'd been using the time since his Wimbledon early exit to get used to his new, bigger racquet which he debuted in Hamburg, where he was twice pushed to three sets on his way to the semis.
"I'm just still looking for the timing and the rhythm," he said, though he didn't blame the racquet for the loss.
"I tried everything I could at this tournament. It's been a difficult week throughout.
"But I'm happy I fought through many matches. It gives me the matches I was looking for."
He explained why he was attempting the racquet switch now, explaining his previous success had delayed it.
"I've been very close on numerous occasions to changing racquets in a bigger way," Federer said.
"But then very often, time was the issue. Maybe also just the records of grand slams - I was always keeping on playing quarters and semis - so then it was also a bit more difficult to change it because of the time.
"After I lost at Wimbledon, I thought this is a good time to go and test the racquets, to take a bit of time off and then add some tournaments and see was there enough time to change or not."
Federer, whose only title this season came on the grass of Halle in June, added the two summer clay events to his schedule after losing to Sergiy Stakhovsky at Wimbledon.
"I tried everything I could (in Hamburg). It's been a difficult week throughout.
"Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to the final, but nevertheless, I did have four good matches and these are the kind of matches I need."
Share
