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Roger Federer says he is happy with his clay form, despite missing two match points in a Mutua Madrid Open quarter-final loss to Dominic Thiem on Friday. It was his first red-dirt tournament for three years.
“I feel very good about my game,” admitted the three-time former Madrid champion, shortly after losing 3-6, 7-6(11), 6-4 at the Caja Magica. “I thought I had some good matches here, especially the last two [against Gael Monfils and Thiem]. [The] first one [versus Richard Gasquet] was good to get into it. Obviously, Gael and Dominic are tough on the clay, so it was a good battle. I feel good on the clay right now.”
The Swiss recorded the 1,200th match win of his career on Thursday by saving two match points against Monfils, but could not convert match points at 7/8 and 9/10 in the second set tie-break against Thiem on Friday.
“[It’s] frustrating, clearly,” said Federer. “Losing with match points is the worst, so that's how I feel. But nevertheless, if I take a step back, it's all good.
“I had a great week. People couldn't have been friendlier to me. I thought I played good. I have good memories from this place, so of course I can see myself coming back, but I don't know at this point.”
Federer, who features in next week’s Internazionali BNL d'Italia draw, admitted he will make a decision on his participation at the Foro Italico in Rome over the weekend.
“I couldn't make the decision before the game so, unfortunately, I had to wait and see how this match played out today… I wanted to keep options open and that is why I'm in the draw. I'll probably only decide on the weekend.”
Federer, a winner of two ATP Tour titles this year at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (d. Tsitsipas) — his 100th career crown — and at the Miami Open presented by Itau (d. Isner), now has a 20-3 match record on the season.
He did a lot better than I thought he would, but as I've previously stated Thiem is just unstoppable on clay at the moment.
I might even go as far as saying he's better than Nadal. Something tells me Thiem & Nadal will duke it out for the second week in a row (unless Tsitispas or Djokovic spoil the party).
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