Roger Federer has once again dealt a forehand smash to his recent poor form by claiming a return to winning ways is just round the corner.

After a super start to the season which saw the world No.1 claim Grand Slam No.16 at the Australian Open, Federer has been nothing short of rubbish.

He was dumped out of Indian Wells in the fourth round and things didn’t improve the following week when he lost
to Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in the third round. And just when he thought things couldn’t get any worse they did. Federer floundered at the start of the claycourt season, losing in the second round at the Rome Masters to unheralded Latvian Ernests Gulbis.

But he’s confident his mini losing streak will come to an end this week at the Estoril Open in Portugal.

“It’s frustrating to lose three matches like this,” Federer said. “The semis and finals are where I play my best tennis so hopefully [it’ll happen] in Estoril.”

Last year the Swiss enjoyed his best season ever on the red dirt, beating arch-rival and clay king Rafael Nadal at the Madrid Masters before finally completing the all-important career Grand Slam by claiming the Roland Garros title. And ever the collector of Grand Slams, Federer is keen to add to his French Open crown.

However, Nadal looks in fine form having won his sixth consecutive Monte Carlo title and easily seen off David Ferrer to claim another Rome Masters title. And Federer admitted last week that while Nadal looks back to his best, he himself has some work to do.

He said: “If you lose early you cannot wait for the next tournament to come around.  “It’s frustrating because I didn’t build any momentum or confidence so I’ll have to do some hard yards now and win some ugly matches.”

So this week the Swiss is looking to re-boot his claycourt run-up to the French Open, which starts in just two and a half weeks’ time.

Federer gets his tilt at the Estoril title under way today against either a qualifier or German Bjorn Phau.

Estoril was a happy hunting ground for Federer in 2008 his only other appearance - where he took the title against Russian Nikolay Davydenko. It was also the event where his short claycourt coaching relationship with former Spanish champion Jose Higueras was first confirmed. And he doubtless  hopes that relationship which helped him win the elusive French Open will work for him as he seeks to bounce back to his best.

The Swiss plotted his preparation for a Roland Garros title defence months ago, committing to Estoril way back at the end of last year.