Federer puzzled by clay form

Players Under the Microscope / Editor / 11 May 2007 / Leave a Comment

Betfair customers appear to be losing faith in world number one Roger Federer following another disappointing defeat.

Having been beaten twice by Guillermo Canas earlier in the season, the world number one crashed out of the Rome Masters at the third-round stage following a straight-sets defeat to Filippo Volandri.

The French Open is the only Grand Slam Federer hasn't won and the Swiss star was expected to be Rafael Nadal's closest challenger for the title next month.

Federer, having traded to small stakes at 2.4, can be backed at 4.4 to win at Roland Garros - Nadal leads the market at 1.69.
Speaking after the 6-2 6-4 loss, the 25-year-old admitted concern over his form on clay, saying: "I don't know what's wrong. I have to analyze it myself."

Federer added: "I need to get back on the practice courts instead of the match courts.
"On clay you need to be solid, and I wasn't. I don't know if you can say I was playing shockingly, but I was making a lot of mistakes, serving badly - giving him second serves all the time."