Three-time Mutua Madrid Open champion Roger Federer is making the rounds ahead of his first clay-court tournament since the 2016 Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. The World No. 4, who arrived in Madrid on Friday, visited the Palacio de Cibeles on Saturday morning.
Federer had a special guide at the historic building, receiving a tour from Madrid Mayor Manuela Carmena. The Palacio de Cibeles is a historic building in Spain, having opened 100 years ago.
Mayor Carmena took Federer, who is competing here for the first time since 2015, throughout the Spanish capital’s city hall, and the Swiss was impressed by the Palacio de Cristal and the views from terraces on the sixth and 11th floors.
Federer faces an interesting draw at his first clay-court tournament in nearly three years, playing French veteran Richard Gasquet or Spanish wild card and Estoril semi-finalist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in his first match. The 101-time tour-level titlist could battle 15th seed Gael Monfils in the third round in what would be their 14th FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting (Federer leads 9-4).
A blockbuster quarter-final could await the 37-year-old at the Caja Magica, as Federer could play two-time Madrid finalist Dominic Thiem. The World No. 5 beat Rafael Nadal in Barcelona en route to winning the title there, and he also claimed his first ATP Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells in March, defeating Miami champion Federer in the final 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. The Austrian leads their rivalry 3-2, including a straight-sets victory three years ago in Rome in their only previous clay-court match.
Did You Know?
Federer has the fifth-most clay-court tour-level wins among active players with 2014, trailing four Spaniards: Rafael Nadal (421), David Ferrer (333), Tommy Robredo (261) and Fernando Verdasco (222).
from Tennis - ATP World Tour http://bit.ly/2PKZpSk
No comments:
Post a Comment