Federer seeks salvation on clay

By Pritha Sarkar

LONDON (Reuters) - When Roger Federer starts looking forward to the claycourt season, it is a sign of just how desperate times have become for the once dominant Swiss.

A mangled racket and 47 unforced errors during his defeat by Novak Djokovic at the Sony Ericsson Open on Friday highlighted why the Swiss is now relieved to be turning his back on his favourite surface.

"Thank God the hardcourt season is over," the 27-year-old said. "It's the end of the hardcourt season. I don't care anymore. I'm moving over to clay, a new chapter."

However, simply flipping over to the next page is unlikely to fix the chinks that are all too apparent in Federer's armour.

His once formidable forehand is bereft of timing, the solid backhand is letting him down, the sloppy errors are becoming a regular feature but more importantly -- he has lost the killer instinct.

"I haven't been winning 20 tournaments in a row, so nobody expects me to win really," said Federer, who holds the record for chalking up 24 consecutive final victories.

For years Federer was the poster boy of how to succeed by going it alone. Despite not having a full-time coach by his side since 2003, he piled up 13 grand slam trophies and now stands just one short of Pete Sampras's overall record.

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