By Lauren Lynch
Photo Credit: Tony Chang/Chang Photography
(April 26, 2010) As the father of twin daughters, Roger Federer has become accustomed to twosomes.
The World No. 1 will double up in Rome this weekend. Federer has signed on to play doubles with friend and former Davis Cup teammate Yves Allegro. Asked why he chose Allegro instead of Stanislas Wawrinka, with whom Federer partnered to win the 2008 Olympic gold medal in doubles, the 16-time Grand Slam champion joked "We just used each other for the Olympics, me and Stan."
"I haven't played doubles in a while so I asked Yves if he was in the mood to do it," added Federer, who last partnered Allegro in a 6-2, 6-0 loss to the Bryan brothers at the 2009 Indian Wells.
The Swiss wild cards will play Johan Brunstrom of Sweden and Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands Antilles in their first doubles match.
Federer will face Ernests Gulbis in his opening singles match. It will be his first singles match since squandering a match point against Tomas Berdych at the Sony Ericsson Open on Key Biscayne earlier this month.
"Practice is (the) key during this stage getting ready for clay and the long stretch from Rome on to Wimbledon," Federer said. "It's a long one and I need to be fresh at the back end as well at Wimbledon, when it comes to hopefully playing another final."
The 40th-ranked Gulbis swept Marcos Baghdatis, 6-2, 6-2. Federer won his lone prior match with Gulbis, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, in the Doha quarterfinals in January. The winner of their next meeting could be looking at a Rome quarterfinal against eighth-seeded Marin Cilic if the seeds hold true to form.
Rome, Monte Carlo and Paris are the only Masters 1000 titles missing from Federer's trophy collection. The two-time Rome runner-up said completing the career Grand Slam by winning the 2009 French Open has been a bit of a liberating experience from both questions and pressure.
"Questions are already very different. It doesn't start off with, 'Oh, are you going to win the French Open this year?' So it's just a bit more relaxing," Federer said. "I also got a lot of confidence from winning the French Open last year. You feel like if you can do it once you can do it twice."