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Roger Federer is back home in Switzerland ready to compete at the Gstaad Indoor tournament with his new 98″ prototype Wilson racquet. This marks a change for Fed, who has competed with a 90″ Wilson racquet for over a decade. He played his first tournament in Hamburg, Germany last week with the new racquet and the result was a mixed bag. He lost in the semifinals to qualifier Delbonis. At times he looked very sharp, at other times, the timing simply was not there. Also, reports are his back was taped at the event in Hamburg, so perhaps the aching back he struggles with from time to time is a bit of a problem. At any rate, he is playing in these smaller tournaments, trying to get his timing and comfort level where it needs to be with the new larger frame racquet (the racquet is tweaked constantly and is a work in progress) as he prepares to head to Toronto for the Rogers Cup Masters 1000 Tournament in just over a week. He is next scheduled to compete in Cincinnati before the US Open in Flushing Meadow, NY, the final Grand Slam event of this 2013 tennis season. This has been a bit of a lackluster year for Roger, especially when measured by “Federer standards” and he is currently only ranked #5 in the world according to the ATP rankings. One has to expect it will take a bit of time and experimenting for Roger to get his comfort level where he wants it with the new Wilson racquet, especially after so many years of using what was one of the smallest racquets on the ATP tour. To show their appreciation for Federer playing in the Gstaad event for the first time since 2004 (he won it, of course), he has been presented with a gift from the tournament officials, a COW! I mean after all, what in the world do you give a man who has virtually everything!
Roger is scheduled to face D. Brands of Germany in his first match at this event on Wednesday.
