Despite the setbacks Roger Federer sustained this season, the Swiss Maestro got an unexpected boost in his bid for an 18th Grand Slam title at the French Open later this month.
Federer has received an unusual help in his quest for another Grand Slam win when he competes at Roland Garros in Paris on May 22. The 34-year-old, who has yet to win a title this season, regain his position as No. 2 in the Emirates ATP World Rankings, bumping off Andy Murray into the third spot in spite of a season filled with unfortunate setbacks.
With Federer back to being world No. 2, he could avoid any chances of a semifinal clash with career rival Novak Djokovic, who has defeated the Swiss in three of their last five meetings, most recently at in the SF round of the Australian Open earlier this year.
This puts Federer in the other side of the French Open bracket, where he could potentially face any player not as dominating as Djokovic, which means a higher chance of getting into the final round at Stade Roland Garros. But that is still subjected to Federer's form, which he hopes to establish at the Italian Open 2016 in Rome.
Federer will hope to test his level of play in the clay-season at the Foro Italico following his failed bid in the Monte Carlo Masters and canceled appearance at the Madrid Open.
Following more than two months of being sidelined due to a knee surgery that repaired a meniscal tear on his left knee, Federer found himself struggling on the clay surface after losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a player the Basel native struggled to beat in recent years, at the Masters event in Monaco. Federer's quest for his first title of the season was supposed to continue in the Spanish capital, but a minor back injury had the 17-time Grand Slam winner ruling himself out of the Madrid Open.
Federer successfully opened his Italian Open campaign after defeating Alexander Zverev 6-3 7-5 in the second round of the ATP 1000 Masters event in the Italian capital. However, Federer admitted that while he was happy about the victory, the match was a testing ground to see how he would possibly fare when he set-foot in Paris.
"This was something [that] I feel like I needed to do to get a sense of where I'm at," Federer said, reports the ATP's official website.
"It would have been easy not to play and then just be unsure how I was going to feel in Paris. So at some point you have to go out there and see how it feels, and I'm happy I was able to play a full match without any setbacks."
Federer faces a tough road to his first Italian Open title when he battles Austrian Dominic Thiem in the third round of the tournament and a possible quarterfinal clash against Japan's Kei Nishikori. Federer could once again face Djokovic in a semifinal clash, which could have happened multiple times this year minus the former's losses and injuries. But if Federer could somehow keep his spot as world No. 2, there is a better chance to reach the final round of the French Open.