LONDON—After losing to Rafael Nadal for the 22nd time in 32 matches in the semis of the ATP World Tour Finals, Roger Federer says he would like to grab more hardware next year. The Swiss ended the season with only one title, his lowest haul since 2001.
“Winning five titles or something, I guess, something exciting, leaving the tournaments as winner,” Federer said of his goals for next season. “That’s what keeps things exciting. Rankings, if it’s not world No. 1, then I’m not that interested in. Even though you kind of look at it, it would be nice to stay in the top four, top eight, that kind of thing, for seeding purposes more than anything else. Other than that, it’s either world No. 1 or tournaments or big tournaments in general.
The 17-time Grand Slam champion added that he was pleased with how he ended the season, reaching a final and two semifinals in three consecutive weeks at tournaments in Basel, Paris, and London.
“Beating two Top 10 players is a good thing for me after not having beaten any for almost seven or eight months,” he said. “Considering the back issues I’ve had, I’m pleased that I’m pain-free for a long period of time now with a lot of tennis. That’s definitely also going to give me confidence physically and also mentally. Clearly Grand Slams are going to be part of my highlights, hoping to sort of make sure I play my best there with some selective other events that I consider important to me, some of the Masters 1000s. Then hopefully I have something left for the World Tour Finals at the end of next year because that’s clearly a goal. Then just some personal goals because there’s a big gap, as well, between Australia and the French Open. I just still have to decide what the goal is there, then I’ll just attack and try to play good tennis.”