By Chris Oddo | Monday October 22, 2018
Ahead of this year’s Swiss Indoors Basel, eight-time Roger Federer revealed that a hand injury has delayed his progress for much of the summer, but adds that he’s feeling better now.
"At the beginning of the grass season, I hurt my hand a bit during practice,” Federer told Rene Stauffer of Tages Anzeiger. “I have the feeling it was more of an influence than I had thought. That should not be an excuse... but I could not hit forehands properly, especially in the final of Halle and then at Wimbledon."
But Federer said he has since recovered. "I've felt better since [the Laver Cup at] Chicago," he said.
The 20-time major champion will open his bid for a ninth title at his hometown tournament on Tuesday when he faces Filip Krajinovic of Serbia in the evening session.
Federer owns a 39-7 record on the season with three titles. The Swiss started the season with a 17-match winning streak and won three of the first five events he played, but he has failed to win the elusive 99th title in any of the last five events he has played.
The 37-year-old owns a 66-9 lifetime record at Basel, the tournament where he got his start as a ball kid, and he has won his last fifteen matches at the St. Jakobshalle.
See the full Basel draw here: