Roger Federer insists he is excited for 2020 despite finishing 2019 with disappointment at the ATP Finals – but stresses that he needs to keep his levels up to compete with his rivals over the next 2 months.
Federer was knocked out in the semi-finals by Greek hot shot Stefanos Tsitsipas, who plays Dominic Thiem today in the final.
But Federer, who lost the final of Wimbledon and could only reach the semi at the French, the quarters at the US and the fourth round at the Australian Open, insists he is happy with his work this year.
Federer did manage four titles in 2019 – Basel, Halle, Miami and Dubai – and is currently ranked as third in the world, behind Novak Djokovic and year-end World No 1 Rafael Nadal.
And the 38-year-old believes he can continue to compete at the highest level over the next 12 months and he tries to stay with the other two members of the famed ‘big three’.
But he knows he needs to keep on top of things as his body starts to show signs of age.
“I’ve got to keep on playing at the level like I have this year, and then I will create some chances,” he said.
“I thought I played some consistent, solid tennis. Got to take care of my body, listen to the signs, work well with the team, get the balance right with everything that’s happening in my life.
“But I’m happy how I played this season, and I’m extremely excited for next season.”
Federer’s loss to Tsitsipas came the day after an immense performance against Djokovic.
But two intense games two days in a row proved too much for him.
“No doubt I had my chances,” Federer said.
“[I] had some good spells, but the spells where things were not working well, they were pretty bad.
“At this level, you just can’t have it happen, so that was pretty disappointing today.
“When the matches come, it’s not maybe as easy as it was maybe 10, 15 years ago, where you’re just going to play very good day in, day out.
“Maybe you need to do extra effort sometimes for that to happen. Maybe that’s what it felt like today, just things were complicated.
“But I’ve got to maybe do even a better job at figuring these moments out, because the opportunities were there today, for instance.
“They were there in other moments as well this season, maybe Indian Wells or Wimbledon.”
