Coming off an early round exit at the Madrid Open, former world's no.1 Roger Federer is back on the red dirt as he commenced his first practice session on Monday before the start of his campaign at Internazionali BNL d'Italia this week.
Federer, who succumbed to rising star Nick Kyrgios 6-7(1), 7-6(5), 7-6(12) in the second round, returned to practice after spending few days with his family in Switzerland.
The Swiss Master won his first clay-court tournament at the Istanbul Open since the 2012 Madrid Open, but he was caught unprepared against the hard-serving Australian in their first ever head-to-head encounter.
Trying to find his groove back before the big tournament at Roland Garros, Federer spent several hours hitting the balls and sharpening his skills with his teammates on Monday.
He's scheduled to face Istanbul Open runner up Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay for the second time in three weeks in the second round of the BNL d'Italia.
Meanwhile, golfer Jason Day drew inspiration from Federer's composure on the battlefield to have a solid run at the Players Championship. Day believed Federer's unbreakable spirit is key to his success on the tennis court.
"I just kept thinking about Roger Federer, what would he do?" Day told reporters via CBS Sports. "I don't know if you guys notice, but every time, after a point, he's just kind of very level. He doesn't keep his head down all the time. He's kind of in his own little world, and then he's on to the next point. So that's kind of what I was trying to think of, just kind of mimic what he does.