Troubled preparation to blame for exit: Federer

Roger Federer blamed troubled preparations for his exit, saying he had spent most of the time leading up to the year’s final Grand Slam worrying about his back instead of focusing on training.

Federer, who skipped the US Open warmup tournaments because of back pain, said he was fit to play but the damage had been done before the action started in New York. “The best player won today, by far, and I don’t have a problem with that,” he said. “I don’t want to take anything from Juan Martin but when you get injured before a tournament, you are not focused on training or on how to play during the tournament.”

“It was a bit the case for me before the US Open. Then I had to play a couple of five-setters and you start to hurt a little bit everywhere.” 

Federer believes that as a result, he was unable to recapture the form he displayed in his victorious campaigns at the Australian Open and Wimbledon earlier this year. “I never had the feeling I had reached the level I wanted. I forced myself to think that but I never had quite the same rhythm as during the Australian Open, Wimbledon, Indian Wells or Miami,” he said. — Reuters