Roger Federer knows there will be something missing when the U.S. Open begins on Monday without injured holder Rafael Nadal there to defend his title.
But the second-seeded Swiss admitted on Saturday that he is perfectly content to get on with the business at hand while avoiding one of his most dangerous rivals on the big stage.
“For the players, we hope he gets well and he feels better quickly and he’s back on tour soon,” said the 33-year-old, chasing his record 18th major title.
“But at the same time, what stands out is the opportunity to try to take advantage of him, the fact that he’s not here. It’s one less really difficult player to beat maybe.
“The focus is more on you or other players rather than him. The players don’t wish injuries to anyone. So you just hope he recovers,” Federer said of the Spaniard and his right wrist injury that he suffered a month ago during training.
Federer heads into the final grand slam of the season as the most on-form of the elite, with two titles (Halle, Cincinnati) and two finals (Wimbledon, Toronto) on his recent resume.
He opens in the first round against colourful Australian Marinko “Mad Dog” Matosevic, whom he beat in their only previous meeting in January in Brisbane.
“Clearly I’m aware that he can play some dangerous tennis, but at the same time, I feel like it’s on my racquet,” said Federer. “I have to make sure he has to work extremely hard and he knows the finish line is really far away.
“I’ll try to keep it that way throughout the match.” Federer is preparing for the rowdy night crowd at Flushing Meadows that givea the tournament its mixed reputation with international players.
But the calm player from Switzerland in unconcerned about playing under the lights where he has enjoyed repeated success.
He got a taste of late nights this month at the Masters 1000 dates in Canada and the US.
“I’m happy that I did play some night and some day in the last two weeks, because especially in the European circuit, you don’t usually play much at night. Or hardly.
“Next thing you know, it’s like you’re going through a stretch where you never play or practise really at night. It’s all day.
“It was good for me to get through some night sessions in Toronto.
The switch was tough for the (afternoon) final because I finished sometimes really late. In Cincinnati it was tough. I played a lot of tough three-setters, long matches, late matches.
“Now I feel like if it’s day or night, you have to be able to manage both anyways, so I’m ready for both. Clearly always like playing night sessions here, but then again, as long as I keep winning, it doesn’t really matter.” Federer will be playing in his 60th straight grand slam, a record that is a testimony to his passion for remaining injury-free.
“Whenever I get a chance to rest, I do. Whenever I can go on vacation, I do. I don’t want to keep on playing all the time and feel like I’m always doing something, “The body and mind, they need time to heal. Especially if you have inflammations and so forth. I’d rather skip a tournament here and there rather than missing three or six months, which has never happened to me.
“That served me well. But clearly playing styles I’m sure has somewhat of an impact, I would think.”
