Fedex vows to bounce back at Stockholm

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Stockholm, Oct. 19: Roger Federer landed in Stockholm on Monday afternoon to make good on the promise he was unable to keep two years ago, with the Swiss keen to bounce back after his finals loss to Andy Murray in Shanghai.

The 16-time Grand Slam winner announced on his Facebook page in early evening that he was finally on the ground in the Swedish capital.

He will begin his Stockholm Open campaign on Thursday evening in the second round after playing here in 2000 and losing in the second round to Sweden’s Andreas Vinciguerra.

In 2008, Federer withdrew from much of the autumn season to rest after beating glandular fever earlier in the year. One of his scheduling victims was the modest Stockholm event, now run by former playing colleagues Thomas Johansson and Jonas Bjorkman.

There is now no stopping the Swiss from fulfilling what he believes is an important obligation to the event. “I felt like I owed Stockholm to come back there,” he said in Shanghai after losing his title bid in straight sets on Sunday to Murray .

Stockholm is the beginning of the end of Federer’s season which still includes his home event in Basel from November 1, the Paris Masters and the eight-man season final in London next month.

“I hope also by playing Stockholm is going to help me to play well in Basel, Paris and then London. There are still a lot of points to pick up and many important events for me,” said the owner of a mere two titles (Australian Open, Cincinnati Masters) this year.

Pic Caption:
Roger Federer gestures after his match against Andy Murray in Shanghai.