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.

Eight-time Internazionali BNL d’Italia champion Rafael Nadal will not have it easy if he’s to add to his record trophy haul in Rome. The Spaniard could face the only player who has defeated him on clay since 2017, Dominic Thiem, in the quarter-finals.

Seventeen of the Top 20 players in the ATP Rankings are in the final clay-court ATP Masters 1000 draw of the year. Leading the way is World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who is going for his fifth triumph at the event, and third seed Roger Federer, who said after his quarter-final loss in Madrid that he will, “probably only decide on the weekend” whether he plays in Rome or not.

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Nadal and Thiem, both of whom remain alive at the Mutua Madrid Open, have already played once this year on clay, with Thiem prevailing en route to his victory in Barcelona. It is the third consecutive year in which the Austrian has defeated Nadal on the surface, which would make that potential quarter-final a must-see blockbuster.

Nadal & Thiem’s Past Five FedEx ATP Head2Head Meetings

But both players will need to advance to that stage first. After his bye, second-seeded Nadal will play Richard Gasquet or Jeremy Chardy, both of whom are Frenchmen. The first seed Nadal could battle is big-hitting 14th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili. Nadal needed four sets to dismiss the Georgian at last year’s US Open.

Thiem will need to navigate through a section of dangerous unseeded players, starting with his opener against Spaniard Fernando Verdasco or Brit Kyle Edmund. Nine-time ATP Tour champion Roberto Bautista Agut is also in Thiem’s section, and the fifth seed could potentially play 11th seed Karen Khachanov in the third round.

Top-seeded Novak Djokovic will start his pursuit of a fifth Rome trophy against #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov or Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta. The Serbian faced Shapovalov en route to his Australian Open triumph earlier this year, but it was not an easy match for the World No. 1. Shapovalov was one of just two players (also Medvedev) to take a set from Djokovic in Melbourne. 

Djokovic could face a familiar clay-court foe in the third round in 16th seed Marco Cecchinato. The Italian defeated Djokovic at Roland Garros last year. Seventh seed Juan Martin del Potro, who played his first tournament since February this week in Madrid, is also in the same quarter.

Third seed Roger Federer, who reached the quarter-finals at the Caja Magica in his first clay-court tournament since 2016 Rome, is slated to face one of the two 2018 Millennium Estoril Open finalists: Portugal’s Joao Sousa or American Frances Tiafoe. He is in the bottom half of the draw with Nadal and Thiem.

Reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev, who made the final in Rome last year, will play home favourite Matteo Berrettini or Frenchman Lucas Pouille in his opener. The German is in the top half with Djokovic.

Five First-Round Matches To Watch
– No. 12 Daniil Medvedev vs. Nick Kyrgios
– Stan Wawrinka vs. David Goffin
– No. 13 Borna Coric vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime
– No. 10 Fabio Fognini vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
– Alex de Minaur vs. No. 16 Marco Cecchinato

Did You Know?
Every Rome champion since 2005 will be in the draw with the exception of 2016 champion Andy Murray, who is recovering from hip surgery.

Dominic Thiem hung tough and saved two match points on Friday in an enthralling and dramatic 3-6, 7-6(11), 6-4 victory over three-time former champion Roger Federer at the Mutua Madrid Open in two hours and 11 minutes.

The fifth-seeded Austrian, who has finished runner-up at this ATP Masters 1000 tournament for the past two years, saved match points at 7/8 and 9/10 in the second set tie-break and carried the momentum into the deciding set with a service break — on his ninth opportunity — in the third game. Fourth seed Federer broke back for 4-4, but on break point in the next game, when approaching the net, rued letting a Thiem forehand return go by.

Thiem, victor over Federer for his first Masters 1000 crown in the BNP Paribas Open final on 17 March, will now look to extend his eight-match winning streak against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, the 2011 and 2016 Madrid titlist, on Saturday. The 25-year-old Thiem is 2-5 against the Serbian, but has won their past two meetings in the 2017 Roland Garros quarter-finals and last year’s Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters third round.

Earlier in the day, 2011 and 2016 champion Djokovic advanced to his 62nd ATP Masters 1000 semi-final without striking a ball when ninth seed Marin Cilic withdrew due to food poisoning. https://www.atptour.com/en/news/federer-thiem-madrid-2019-friday

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Just like against Gael Monfils on Thursday, in the 1,200th match win of his career, Federer got off to a fast start by taking a 3-0 lead — breaking serve when Thiem made a forehand error in the second game. After five service games, Federer had lost five points and Thiem was treading water too deep behind the baseline. Federer wrapped up the 30-minute opener when Thiem struck a forehand long (his 11th error).

Federer came under pressure early in the second set, but his first serve and natural attacking instincts came to the rescue – twice in the second game from 15/40 and again at 2-3, 0/40. While Thiem was solid on serve, Federer dictated with his forehand in long rallies by positioning himself in the Ad court.

Thiem made consecutive errors at the start of the tie-break, but battled back from 0/3 down to win six of the next seven points. Serving at 6/5, Thiem was left flat-footed as Federer disguised a backhand drop shot and the Austrian was left kicking himself at 7/6 when he overcooked a forehand. Federer went for broke at 8/7 on a forehand return; a third set point went begging for Thiem at 9/8 and he needed a big forehand to save a second match point for Federer at 9/10. Federer saved a fifth set point with a first serve at 10/11, but Thiem was not to be denied on serve at 12/11 with an aggressive forehand/smash combination.

Thiem found his forehand range, pinning Federer behind the baseline early in the decider. Finally able to get a look on a second serve, Thiem made his move in the third game when he broke Federer’s serve for the first time with successive forehands on his ninth break point chance. In what was becoming an encounter of fine margins, Federer responded immediately at 1-2, yet Thiem denied his Swiss opponent two break points.

Deep returns from Federer at 3-4 ensured there was to be another twist but, in the next game, Thiem locked in on return and set up three break points. Federer saved the first with a first serve out wide, the second with a high volley winner, but on approach to the net at 30/40, the Swiss left a forehand return that dropped inside the Ad court tramline.

Federer, who was playing his first clay-court tournament for three years, last beat a Top 10 player on red dirt at the 2015 Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome (Stan Wawrinka in the semi-finals). Today marks the 21st time that Federer has held a match point(s) and lost. It is the first time that Federer lost a match after having match point since the 2018 Wimbledon quarter-finals, when he fell to Kevin Anderson 13-11 in the fifth set. In his last visit to Madrid in May 2015, Federer lost to Nick Kyrgios in three tie-breaks in their second-round clash after holding two match points.

This year, Federer won the 100th title of his career at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (d. Tsitsipas) in February and won his 28th Masters 1000 trophy at the Miami Open presented by Itau (d. Isner) in March. He is now 20-3 in 2019.

Novak Djokovic advanced to the Mutua Madrid Open semi-finals for a sixth time on Friday without hitting a ball after Marin Cilic withdrew ahead of their match at the Caja Magica.

The 30-year-old Cilic announced his withdrawal – ahead of their 20th FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting – via Twitter, admitting he had food poisoning.

Dear fans, @mutuamadridopen organizers, @DjokerNole I am sorry to announce that I must withdraw from today’s match. I have had a terrible night dealing with a case of food poisoning. I am extremely disappointed to have my time in Madrid end in this way. Thank you for the support.

— Marin Cilic (@cilic_marin) May 10, 2019

“Marin is a top player and he’s a good friend of mine and he did text me saying he got some food poisoning,” said Djokovic. “So I really hope he’s going to recover for [next week’s Internazionali BNL d’Italia in] Rome. On my side, I tried to warm up and prepare for the match and then I went back on the court, trained for another hour and got a good sweat in. [I’m] happy that I’m going to be fresh for my semi-final match-up tomorrow.”

Ninth seed Cilic had won three three-set matches en route to the Madrid quarter-finals this week, saving four match points against Martin Klizan in the opening round; followed by victories over Jan-Lennard Struff and Laslo Djere.

Djokovic, the 2011 and 2016 champion in Madrid, will contest his 62nd ATP Masters 1000 semi-final against fourth-seeded Swiss Roger Federer, the three-time former titlist, who secured the 1,200th win of his career on Thursday, our fifth-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem, a runner-up here for the past two years.

Roger Federer was on the verge of defeat on Thursday against Gael Monfils at the Mutua Madrid Open. But the Swiss saved two match points to stay alive, before ultimately prevailing in a final-set tie-break.

The 37-year-old showed little apprehension on either match point. He snuffed out Monfils’ first opportunity by serving and volleying behind his second serve. Federer later dismissed the Frenchman’s second chance by punishing a short forehand into the backhand corner to elicit an error.

“I just felt not so confident to win the point from the baseline, so I said panic mode is switched on and we are coming in,” said a smiling Federer about the first match point he saved. “Regardless of how and what and when, there were no more tactics except to serve it to the forehand to mix it up and you go to the net as quick as possible so you are as close as possible and I framed the first volley, which ended up being perfect.”

Federer will next face this year’s Indian Wells and Barcelona champion Dominic Thiem. The Austrian leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 3-2, including a three-set victory in the BNP Paribas Open final.

Did You Know?
Federer is 87-0 in matches when he wins a set 6-0. This is the first time any of those matches has gone to a final-set tie-break.

If only it could have been so easy for Roger Federer on Thursday against Gael Monfils at the Mutua Madrid Open. The fourth seed breezed through the opening set of their third-round match 6-0 in only 19 minutes. Another half hour, and Federer would be through to the quarter-finals, right?

Not exactly. The experience of 1,199 match wins told the Swiss not to expect a double bagel at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

“It cannot go on like this. You can dream about 6-Love, 6-Love but they never happen,” Federer said with a smirk. “I think that’s the beauty of the scoring system that if you win the first set, everything’s back to scratch in the second set.

“And I don’t remember the break in the first game, but I think Gael showed great intensity in the beginning of the second set to make sure that he somehow got a rhythm going, and he started playing better and he did.”

Before this week, it had been nearly three years since Federer played on clay. But the 11-time clay-court champion isn’t expecting anyone to underestimate his clay-court skills during his return to the surface in Madrid.

Monfils certainly didn’t. The Frenchman had two match points against Federer before the Swiss recovered 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(3) to advance to the quarter-finals.

“I don’t think anybody’s really underestimating me because I’m not coming back from an injury. I’ve had a good start to the season this year. And it is pretty fast here in Madrid and I’ve won here in the past, so I guess players maybe know I don’t have that much clay-court tennis in me in the last few years, but that doesn’t make me less dangerous to be quite honest,” Federer said.

The Swiss won the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid in 2006, 2009 and 2012, the latter two being after the tournament transitioned to clay. In March, Federer added his 28^th ATP Masters 1000 title at the Miami Open presented by Itau, the last tournament he played before returning this week in Spain.

“Anything is sort of possible. The very good, the very bad, you know. But it’s tough to just come out and play fantastic tennis. I also have to come to terms with how to play on clay again, what’s normal, which points to lose and which points to win again,” Federer said.

“There’s always these natural things that you go through for weeks on the clay usually, so I don’t have that much time, so I have to accept errors that maybe I wouldn’t do normally and just move on with it.”

The 37-year-old has been playing as if he’s on a hard court at times. Federer has been his usual aggressive self, coming to net often and even serving and volleying in the high-altitude conditions.

“I think it is an option to be used on a hot and sunny day in Paris, too. I always thought that serve and volleying on a hot day on clay almost has more reward than on a grass court sometimes because the ball jumps out of the strike zone a little bit more and it’s harder to press it down again into the feet of the attacking net player” Federer said. “So I think serve and volley can work very well on the clay.”