Federer won't let Cincy setback spoil US Open prep

Roger Federer remains determined to enter the US Open on full throttle despite taking a 6-3, 6-4 third-round loss to Andrey Rublev at the ATP Cincinnati Masters.

The 70th-ranked Russian qualifier was still in awe after knocking off the seven-time tournament winner in 61 minutes -- the quickest loss for the 38-year-old Swiss since 2003 in Sydney when he fell after 54 minutes.

But with the wisdom gained from nearly two decades on tour, the 20-time Grand Slam winner was hardly at panic stations after the surprise defeat.

"It's very important for me that I'm injury-free and I'm feeling good," he said on Wednesday.

"Regardless of what the outcome of this week, I'm happy I came here, had good practice sessions.

"I had two matches here and hoped it would have gone better -- the plan is always not to lose first round. The plan is always not to lose second round.

"The plan is never really to be in the weekend. It's trying to be there.

"When these kind of results happen, you walk away from it and say, like, 'What's the plan?' I don't know. I just walked off the court."
"I'm going to train -- exactly what I need to do for the Open -- and that's it. It's fairly simple, keep it simple, but I've got to work hard."