ATP Tennis: Roger Federer feels comfortable with the grass courts at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany.

The grass, at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, appears perfect to Roger Federer. “The grass doesn’t only look good, but is really perfect,” he said.

The lack of match practice, however, might take some fun away from his love-affair with the grass.

Roger Federer is aware of the dangers of playing on the grass.

Roger Federer has a been a dominant force on the grass since the early 2000s and has a 164-24 win-loss record on that surface. He, however, didn’t let his joy for the grass hide his misgivings on the perils of playing on that surface. “When it’s wet, it gets slippery pretty quick, and you are afraid to slip,” he said. “Once you play timidly, all the good practice was for naught and your good game is gone,” Federer opined.

Roger also pointed out the slim margins which decide the winner and loser in grass court tennis. “It’s not always that easy, especially on grass,” Federer added. “The rallies are short, a few points decide them.“

The draw at the Mercedes Cup has not been kind to Roger Federer.

Things will not be any easier for Roger Federer at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, as the draw has been particularly unkind to the 37-year-old veteran. After a bye in the first round, Federer will play the winner of the match between Mischa Zverev and Mikhail Youzhny. Roger has a 17-0 and 5-0 winning record against Youzhny and Mischa respectively and should get past either of them in the second.

Dennis Shapovalov could meet Federer in the quarterfinals, and that’d be a real treat for the fans of the single-handed backhand and zero-grind and early-strike tennis. This one is tough to predict, but if Federer can get past Dennis Shapovalov, then his next opponent could be the highly talented and equally mercurial Nick Kyrgios. Nick and Roger have split their two meetings between them, and both those matches went the distance into three sets with every set went further into a tie-break. If Roger can escape that land-mine, he’d probably meet Milos Raonic in the finals. Milos has a losing 3-10 record against Roger Federer. Milos has, however, beaten Roger in the Wimbledon semi-final, and will gain confidence from that upset of the grass court Maestro in 2016.

Federer would like to do better than his last two appearances at the tournament.

Federer lost to Dominic Thiem in the semi-finals in 2016, and to Tommy Haas in the first round the following year, at Stuttgart. He’d probably like to go a little deeper, at Stuttgart, this time around. Grass, however, is an unpredictable turf, and the lack of competitive tennis, over the last three months, could make it even tougher for him this time around.

The number one ranking is also at stake.

Roger Federer will also regain his number one ranking if he manages to reach the final round at Stuttgart. We, at 138mph, therefore, wish the Maestro the very best for the 2018 grass season.