World number one Roger Federer was unconcerned by his form on clay after losing 2-6 6-7 to Spaniard Albert Montanes in an error-prone performance in the semi-finals of the Estoril Open on Saturday.
Federer who will defend his French Open title later this month told Portuguese television: I’m not worried, the French is too far away.”
The Swiss, who lost his first match of the clay-court season in Rome last month, looked far from his best on a slow court in the first set as Montanes forced him into 19 errors, most of them on his backhand.
“Again, I didn’t start well. It wasn’t so bad in the second set, but I could have done more as I’ve been training well...
I’ve played three matches on clay, I would have liked more, but Montanes knows the surface well and I struggle the whole way through,” the 2008 Estoril champion said.
He showed more consistency in the second set but wasted a three-point lead in the tiebreak and then sent a backhand long to hand 29-year-old Montanes the win with his first match point.
Federer said he expected to improve his game with more matches on clay at next week’s Madrid Open, which he also won last year.
Fourth seed Montanes, the defending champion, will meet local hero Frederico Gil on Sunday after world 133 beat Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2 5-7 6-3 to become the first Portuguese to reach the Estoril final.
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