Roger Federer’s initial 2016 calendar featured no other clay-court tournaments aside from the French Open. With Roland Garros still to play, Federer is already set for his second clay-court appearance of the year. After turning up in Monte-Carlo, the Swiss will also play this week at the Mutua Madrid Open.
Federer tweaked his schedule primarily because he missed all of February with a knee issue, thus forcing him to pull out of stops in Rotterdam and Dubai. The world No. 3 also missed all of March after withdrawing from Miami prior to his opening match because of illness. A relatively short stay in Monte-Carlo saw Federer defeat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Roberto Bautista Agut before losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in three sets.
The 34-year-old is 35-8 lifetime in Madrid with three titles. He triumphed at the event twice on indoor hard courts and again in 2012 when blue clay was used.
“Federer is one of the best players in history,” tournament director Manolo Santana commented. “We are delighted to have him back in the Caja Magica. In addition, he is one of the fans’ favorites because of everything he has achieved in his career. We will be welcoming him with open arms.”
A difficult draw awaits Federer, just as it did last year in Madrid when he lost his first match to Nick Kyrgios. The world No. 3 should not have as much trouble in his second-round match this time around, as he awaits either Joao Sousa or Nicolas Mahut. But he could run into either Dominic Thiem, Juan Martin Del Potro, or Jack Sock in round three. Moreover, Federer is in the same quarter of the bracket as Rafael Nadal.
If all of the top eight seeds advance to the quarterfinals, the matchups would be as follows: Federer vs. Nadal, Novak Djokovic vs. Tsonga, Andy Murray vs. Tomas Berdych, and Stan Wawrinka vs. Kei Nishikori.
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