Roger Federer says he hopes his two-month break from tennis can refresh him ahead of the French Open but admits there is risk to the strategy.
The Swiss superstar returned to the ATP circuit with a classy 6-3 6-3 win over fellow veteran Radek Stepanek at the Mutua Madrid Open on Tuesday.
The world number two had enjoyed an eight-week break in his homeland before returning to the circuit this week.
“I hope that this is going to be refreshing for me - I haven’t been home to Switzerland for seven straight weeks since…I don’t know, 1997? And I chose to do that without being injured,” Federer said.
Federer admitted his tactic of enjoying a rest was risky, as he continues to play a lower amount of tournaments on the tour.
“It’s not really my goal, to be honest, to play the minimum [amount of] tournaments,” Federer said.
“Of course I’d like to play as long as possible but it’s not a matter of playing minimum tournaments - you want to try to win the ones you play, you want to play enough.
“Playing just the minimum means you’re often playing very rusty, you don’t have momentum, you don’t have confidence - it’s quite difficult to play that way.
“This year is a bit different, now I’ve had this big stretch, but after this, for the year, it’s going to be a normal schedule.”