Federer looking to improve on error-prone performance at Miami Open

Roger Federer didn't look like his familiar self in his Miami opener, but says it didn't help that he was playing an unfamiliar opponent on an unfamiliar court.

The No. 5 had to come from behind to defeat Radu Albot in three sets, hitting 38 unforced errors and getting broken in the opening game.

It was his first competitive match on Hard Rock Stadium at the tournament's new location in downtown Miami.

"It's always going to feel very different in a massive place like this," Federer told press at Miami. "It was definitely different, especially very different to Key Biscayne."

The 20-time Grand Slam champion had problems with his return and rhythm during the first two sets of an error-prone performance.

"Sometimes you feel like it happens always at the wrong times," he said. "You pull the trigger at the wrong times. You're going safe at the wrong times. That has something to do with how I thought he played his game."

Federer also said he was unsure about his strategy, partly because he had not played Albot before.

"In the heat of the moment, I started forgetting stuff also that my coach told me," he said, praising his opponent's play and gameplan. "That's just so tricky, when you don't exactly know what his favorite shot is, is he going to play differently against you because it's you, because I don't have a double-handed backhand, maybe I have a different type of forehand on the run than others, I don't know. He plays it differently. Yeah, so I thought it was hard. I was impressed."

But having won, he is looking to improve in his next encounter against Serbia's Filip Krajinovic, saying that conditions and opponent will be different.

"These are the matches that are so key during the year for any player," he said, "is when you're not sometimes playing your best, when you're in search mode, that you find it, squeeze through, play better than the next round."