Family the priority, playing less for more: Federer

Shanghai, October 18
Swiss tennis superstar Roger Federer returned to the Shanghai Masters after two years and concluded the season’s penultimate ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament with his 94th career crown after a fifth consecutive victory over old foe Rafael Nadal in the final.
The 19-time Grand Slam champion chatted in an exclusive interview with Xinhua after Sunday’s match, saying he has no plans to retire in the near future, but for him, family is first at the moment. “I know it (retirement) is sooner or later. I know I’m not 22 anymore, but I don’t have a date,” Federer said. “If the body allows me to play, my family allows me to play, if the success is still there, if I’m happy to travel, I will continue. But the four things have to work, if one of the four doesn’t work, it maybe the time to stop. But for now, it’s ok.”
At 36, the Swiss has already won a Tour-best six titles this season. One of the reasons for his success at this age is that the veteran has learned to be more flexible. “I have come to realise that sometimes less is more. Today I think when I take enough rest, feel hungry and have the fire, I can play my best,” Federer said.
“I want to make sure I’m happy to be on the court. It’s like if I do too much, the fire goes away. So for me, the family is my priority and then the rest,” he added.
Although trailing in their head-to-head record, Federer has defeated Nadal five times in a row. It seems that the eight-time Wimbledon Open champion has found ways to beat the 10-time French Open winner. “I think I’m serving consistently better. I get easier power ever since I switched to the bigger racquet. I feel I’m connecting better on the backhand and I’m serving good,” Federer said. “But that’s no guarantee, he is gonna keep working. What I see is to win the title, not so much beating Rafael, but of course beating him is more special,” he added.