Roger Federer Flawed After Injury, Goes Down With Novak Djokovic At Monte Carlo

Roger Federer is definitely one of the athletes to look at this year’s Monte Carlo. While Novak Djokovic is on one of the best runs of his career, Roger Federer has been steadily improving his game ever since he slipped from the world number one ranking. Even after coming back from his injury, he has been able to go right back into his signature, graceful performance.

“It was as if Roger Federer never left,” reports ESPN. ” As if he never underwent surgery for the first time in his life. As if he didn’t miss two months of tennis. As if it didn’t matter one bit that he’d played merely 10 matches thus far in 2016 compared to, say, Dominic Thiem, who has 31… After a brief slipup at the end, he beat Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-4 in 1 hour, 15 minutes on Tuesday at the Monte Carlo Masters.”

This sounds like the all-time champion who will go down in history as the greatest tennis player.

Coming back from his injury, the Swiss player has been thoroughly enjoying his time in Monte Carlo, showing off the view on his Twitter account.

Tennis with a view ?? pic.twitter.com/0pyzbZos2C

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) April 11, 2016

“Federer, who tore his meniscus two months ago, showed his ­movement was as crisp and ­decisive as ever, belying his 34 years,” reports Telegraph UK. “He played an aggressive match ­tactically, repeatedly rushing the net and harrying Guillermo Garcia-Lopez – the world No 38 from Spain – into a slew of errors.”

He faces Jo Wilfred Tsonga from France next in the quaterfinals.

Check out Federer stretching out in anticipation for the next game at Monte Carlo.

Coming back from his injury, the Swiss player was expected to stumble a bit before finding his footing. But it seems he was ready to jump right back in after a good two-month break from the court.

“Honestly, I didn’t miss it too much,” the 34-year-old said according to Tennis-X. “I was really happy being home. I was really happy doing the rehab. I just enjoyed the process of getting better every day. I really thought it was something very different that I’ve never really had to experience to this extent in my career.”

Having a healthy balance of family, work and play is crucial for athletes like Roger Federer to continue moving upward in their marvelous careers.

Clay court has never been Roger’s strong suit. In fact, when he was the reigning world number one player, the French Open was the only Grand Slam tournament that eluded him. But with Rafael Nadal, the former King of Clay flailing to come back strongly after his injury, it looks like clay court is once again up for grabs.

With Novak Djokovic out of the picture at this year’s Monte Carlo, that is becoming more and more of a possibility. The Serbian player was caught off guard in the second round of the tournament when he was vanquished by Jiri Vesely.

Despite the fact that he had won the last two Monte Carlo titles, Novak Djokovic “crashed out of the Monte Carlo Masters Wednesday after suffering a shock defeat by world No. 55 Jiri Vesely,” according to CNN.

“The Serb star lost 6-4 2-6 6-4 to the Czech, his first defeat to a player outside of the top 50 since being beaten by then world No. 74 Xavier Malisse in 2010,” the same article reports.

Do you think Roger Federer has a good shot at taking this year’s Monte Carlo trophy home? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

[Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images]