World number-one Roger Federer has set his sights on sweeping the remaining three tennis grand slams this year, as well as the season-ending Masters finals in China.
Coming off his straight sets win over Richard Gasquet in the Hamburg Masters final on Sunday, the Swiss star was in Portugal this week to accept a distinction at the annual Laureus sports awards.
”I failed at the Australian Open, but the season is going well; I already have six titles,” Federer said.
”Wimbledon and Roland Garros [French Open] are important goals, but it would be great to win the final three slams of the season and the Masters,” he added.
”If I win in Paris, it means I have won every slam, which is something only a few players can claim.”
The French Open, where Federer has struggled in recent years, gets under way in Paris next Monday and he is the top seed.
The win in Hamburg was a record 19th straight win in ATP finals since losing to the Czech Republic’s Jiri Novak at Gstaad in 2003, the week after winning his first Wimbledon title.
He has won 41 out of 43 games since last year’s United States Open, losing only to Marat Safin in the Australian Open semifinals and to Gasquet at Monte Carlo. — Sapa-AFP