Federer hits 11-year high with win in Montreal

Roger Federer has achieved an impressive feat that we haven't seen from the great man since way back in 2006.

The Swiss star, who celebrated his 36th birthday on Wednesday, swatted aside Canada's world number 116 Peter Polansky 6-2, 6-1 in just 53 minutes on Thursday at the Montreal Masters.

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The comfortable opening victory took his 2017 record to an impressive 32-2, his best start to a season for 11 years.

In 2006 he started 38-2 and went on to finish the year as World No.1, a feat he's looking to repeat this year.

Federer is riding high after a spectacular year which has netted him both the Australian Open and Wimbledon crowns.

On Thursday's evidence few would bet against him adding the US Open to that haul after a masterful performance that left Polansky groping at shadows.

Federer has attributed his renaissance to rediscovering full fitness after knee surgery in 2016 and taking a two-month break from the game earlier this year.

"I guess for me the key is that I'm actually healthy," Federer said.

"I knew that when I was healthy, I was going to be able to have chances to win slams again, to play against the best, beat the best.

"That's also reasons why I'm still playing today. If I felt like I couldn't do all these things, it would not be enjoyable or I wouldn't be doing it any more.

"I think the belief was always there. The body always needed to be there, too. I think the break just rejuvenated me ... I came in refreshed. It was a different mindset."

He also admits he remains astounded at how fast he was able to bounce back to near-unbeatable form after his first-ever operation 18 months ago.

"Honestly, when I went into surgery, I was rather sad last year. I was rather worried about how I was going to come out of it," Federer said.

"When I did come out of it, I was happy I woke up again, but I was sad that I had an operated knee.

"It was actually quite emotional for me. I was scared at the same time just to be in pain, of the unknown, I guess. I was not thinking of having a start to this kind of a season like back in 2006."

with agencies