Federer to showcase new racket against Brands

Roger Federer has confirmed a switch to a new, larger racket. Federer’s first match with the blacked-out Wilson frame will come against Daniel Brands on Wednesday in Hamburg.

One title in nine tournaments this season. No finals in the last four Grand Slams. A second-round exit at Wimbledon. By most players’ standards, none of that would be cause for serious concern. For Roger Federer, it’s racket-change worthy.

Seen practicing over the weekend with an almost entirely blacked-out stick aside from the Wilson “W” on the strings, Federer confirmed a move to a new racket on Tuesday. The 31-year-old Swiss previously used a Wilson frame that was 90 square inches, but he is switching to a larger model with a 98 square-inch head size.

Federer practicing in Hamburg:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OG3aP1nwB0Q]

[polldaddy poll=7254089]

[polldaddy poll=7254096]

Federer’s first match with the new racket will come against Daniel Brands on Wednesday during second-round action at the German Tennis Championships. Brands, who has never faced the 17-time major champion, opened on Monday with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Paolo Lorenzi. The 58th-ranked German put a real scare into Rafael Nadal at the French Open, but he has still won just four of his last nine matches.

This is Federer’s first appearance in Hamburg since 2008, the last time it was a Masters event before being downgraded to a 500-pointer. The world No. 5 is 29-4 lifetime at the event with four titles. Federer may be favored to capture another as the top seed this week, but he is a modest 27-8 for the year and he has not played since losing to Sergiy Stakhovsky in a Wimbledon stunner.

Switching to a new racket is never an easy transition for anyone, so this may not be a breeze for Federer. However, Brands is playing extremely inconsistent tennis at the moment and he will not be able to end points as quickly as he would like on clay. Look for Federer to get his week started with a win in two relatively competitive sets.

[polldaddy poll=7254100]