The National's Sport cover for the Tuesday, February 24 issue, featuring Roger Federer winning his opening match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships men's tournament.
An aggressive Federer dispatched Mikhail Youzhny in his opening match 6-3, 6-1 and tells Ahmed Rizvi “the last thing I want to do is lose back-to-back matches playing careful”.
Adds Federer:
“I know I can play careful tennis, but then you cannot leave it up to the other guys sometimes if you are going to win or lose.
“It’s difficult to come out and dominate every match, every point, and it’s also hard work playing aggressive ... but I still do believe here in Dubai, if you want to do well, you have to play on top of the baseline, accept that you’re going to play a lot of half volleys, and, if possible for me, I think I’m going to try to come to the net a bit.”
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