Roger Federer reveals why Miami Open requires ‘different’ approach to Grand Slams

The Swiss star dispatched Krajinovic in straight sets at the newly-built arena inside the Hard Rock Stadium, with a 7-5, 6-3 win.

Federer is now through to the round of 16, and will face Daniil Medvedev on Tuesday night.

Speaking after the win, he discussed how his preparations for the Miami Open change compared to the major tournaments.

He indicated that because the timeframe of the Masters 1000 event is so short, he has to keep his effort level high throughout rather than peaking at any time in the tournament.

“I’m not sure how much it is peaking, to be honest,” Federer said. “I think it’s about maintaining maybe also a certain level, because things happen very quickly.

“This is not best-of-five-set tennis. It’s best-of-three.

“You can have a bad few minutes at the beginning of the game, like I had against [Radu] Albot, or you can have it, I don’t know, maybe for Krajinovic today, bad end of the set, bad start to the next set, and that is it.

“So I think it’s more of a mental thing, you know, where you have maybe a point is more important than every single point at a slam.”

This is the first year that the Miami Open is being played inside the Hard Rock stadium, in a purpose-built arena placed in the corner of the stadium which usually plays host to NFL games.

And Federer admitted that everyone playing in the tournament is still getting used to the conditions in Miami.

Due to the short nature of the games, Federer expressed that you have no time to get used to the conditions mid-match, and that if you make a mistake your opponent will pounce.

He continued: “Yeah, it just maybe increases the pressure to some extent because you know you can’t [fade physically] after a long rally or a lot of long rallies, you think the other guy is going to fade physically, and usually they don’t, because the matches are not long enough.

“So it’s a different approach, as I think it’s really about just really being able to maintain a really high level of play.

“And if you can go to the next gear sometimes, great. But I don’t expect it, you know.

“I just guess everybody starts to feel better as you go deeper into the tournament, because everybody is getting used to the conditions.”

source: express.co.uk