• French Open

Federer reveals secret behind blistering start in Paris

Roger Federer has been in impressive form at Roland Garros © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Federer cruises past Tipsarevic as Del Potro stalls Djokovic
  
• Profile: Roger Federer

Roger Federer has revealed he took a week off in order to fully recharge his batteries ahead of the French Open.

The No. 3 seed has flown under the radar in the build up to the event, with world No. 1 Rafael Nadal and the in-form Novak Djokovic taking much of the limelight. But despite leaving the Rome Masters on the back of a gruelling defeat to Richard Gasquet, Federer has been in ominous form at Roland Garros.

Federer admitted he was exhausted after leaving Rome and had no energy to train, but a week's rest seems to have paid dividends as he has cruised through his opening three matches without dropping a set.

Federer was in a ruthless mood as he put Janko Tipsarevic to the sword to move into the fourth round, where he will meet either compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka or home favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

"The first three matches have gone really well for me, I'm actually quite surprised," Federer told Eurosport. "I thought it was a really tricky draw against [Feliciano] Lopez in the first round and against Tipsarevic you never know what to expect.

"I was quite exhausted just from going from Miami to Monaco, practising extremely hard in Switzerland, and then going to Madrid - I had a rough match with Lopez in the first round [Federer eventually won 7-6(13) 6-7(1) 7-6(7)] and I had a lot of muscle pain for almost ten days.

"For me it was more important to relax before the French Open and I wanted to practice more but I didn't have the energy.

"So I said, let's take it easy and be fresh physically and mentally for Roland Garros and that's how I'm feeling now and that's key - I haven't wasted any extra energy so I'm 100 per cent for every match I'm going into for the remainder of the tournament."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.