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Federer relaxed about French Open defence

Roger Federer claimed the French Open at the tenth attempt last year © Getty Images

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World No. 1 Roger Federer believes he is under no pressure to regain his French Open crown as he prepares to play his first clay-court event of the year.

The 28-year-old, who completed his full-set of grand slam titles last year by overcoming Robin Soderling in the final at Roland Garros, is preparing to play in both the singles and doubles at the Rome Masters. And Federer believes he is now in a relaxed situation after claiming the only major title that had previously eluded him.

"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."

Federer's main opponent for the French Open title is again expected to be clay-court specialist Rafael Nadal, who ended an 11-month title drought with his recent win at the Monte Carlo Masters. This return to form has led many to speculate that the French Open title is Nadal's to lose; a suggestion Federer does not refute.

"His record would suggest that for sure," Federer said. "He's been on an absolute tear for the last five years. He's hardly lost any matches - you can almost count those on one hand - and he's only lost one match at the French Open, so I would think he's still the favourite.

"He should have clearly won Doha in the first week of the year when he was playing incredible tennis, he was toying with (Nikolay) Davydenko in the final before Davydenko got a little lucky, saved a match point and ended up playing an incredible third set.

"He was playing really well in the Australian Open before he had to pull out (against Andy Murray) and everybody started to get negative. There has been too much of that about him in my opinion. Surely you would have to assume that once the clay-court season came around, he was going to be back to his A-game."

Federer also believes the return to form of his Spanish rival will only make things harder for Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, two players he holds in high esteem.

"I was always pretty impressed at how incredibly solid they were in the Masters events, always in the semis or quarters," Federer said. "Because I know how hard that is to do. I never took those kind of achievements for granted, even when they were expected of me.

"They are obviously feeling it more now, when they aren't winning the Masters and have not won a grand slam in the last year. The aura can fade and now, with Nadal winning Monaco, the situation has changed again. It will be interesting to see how it turns out and if they can bounce back."

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