Federer: Grand Slams aren’t everything

 

Originally published on: 20/03/12 12:04

Roger Federer has not won a Grand Slam tournament for more than two years, but the former world No.1 insists there is much more to tennis than the game’s four major prizes. Federer’s victory in the Masters 1000 event at Indian Wells on Sunday was his third title in a row following his triumphs in Rotterdam and Dubai and took his tally to six tournament wins in his last eight appearances.
 
“Obviously it’s a big priority for me, playing well at the majors, but it’s not everything,” Federer said. “I always have to keep reminding people that I do play 20 tournaments in the year, not just four. And in my opinion four is not a whole lot, out of 20.”
 
He added: “This is an Olympic year so this is a big priority for me – managing my schedule, making sure I’m healthy at the right times, when I want to be healthy. And right now that’s all that matters. So if a Slam comes my way I’d be very happy to take it. I’ve been extremely close, but I’m working hard, taking all the right decisions, so that hopefully down the road I will pick up a few more.”
 
The latest victory took Federer’s tally of titles to 73 from 103 finals. It was a record fourth triumph for him at Indian Wells: Jimmy Connors and Michael Chang were the only other players who had won the title in the Californian desert three times.
 
With 19 triumphs to their name, Federer and Rafa Nadal share the record for Masters 1000 titles won since 1990, ahead of Andre Agassi (17), Pete Sampras (11) and Novak Djokovic (10). Federer has won seven different Masters 1000 titles: Hamburg (four times), Indian Wells (four times), Cincinnati (four times), Miami (twice), Toronto (twice), Madrid (twice) and Paris (once). He has been runner-up in three others – Monte Carlo (three times), Rome (twice) and Shanghai – while no other player can match his record of 252 wins in Masters 1000 events.

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