For Federer life begins at thirty

Roger Federer is looking forward to the US Open which gets underway later this month and believes he can still win Grand Slam tournaments. He told media that he feels as youthful as ever despite turning thirty at the Montreal Masters next week.

“I [have] inspiration [from] guys that played for a very long time, like Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, Ken Rosewall, Rod Laver, as it's very inspiring to see what they've been able to do,” Federer said. “People tend to say that after a certain time or when you have kids you can’t win any more. I don't want to say I'm a special case, but I've won so much, I feel like if I put myself in the right position, do all the right things, I'll definitely get a shot again of winning big tournaments.”

Federer, who won his only title of 2011 to date in the first week of the season in Doha, played down the significance of turning 30.

"Birthdays happen," he said. They're part of life.

"I'm happy I'm getting older. I'd rather be 30 than 20, to be honest. To me it's a nice time."

The former world number one, a two-time winner of the Rogers Cup, will play in Montreal before appearing at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, where he is the defending champion.

That event also comes ahead of the US Open, an event he won five straight times from 2004 to 2008.

"Every time the US Open rolls around, I'm very, very excited," the Swiss added.

"It’s a great feeling coming back to New York. Honestly, I liked it from day one. It was one of those tournaments I right away I fell in love with."

Federer is currently stuck on sixteen Grand Slam titles but has long said that his ambition is to win at least twenty. Many have doubted his ability to do so especially after the re-emergence of Novak Djokovic as a major winner this year and it has been six slams since Federer last triumphed.

However the Swiss is a five-time US Open champion and he feels as confident as ever as the tournament approaches.

"My game is in a good place right now and I'm excited to see how I'm going to do at the US Open,” he insisted. “I don't feel it's my last chance, not at all. I see many more chances to come.”

However first of all, there's the small matter of next week's Canadian Masters. Federer was runner-up to Andy Murray in Toronto last year and won the title in 2004 and 2006.

“I’m excited to see how the Canadians are going to celebrate my birthday this time around," he said. "Sometimes they start singing 'Happy Birthday' during a match. I'm not going to play on Monday, but you never know if they're going to do something crazy another day.”