While Federer did not have a great clay court season in 2010, that does take some pressure off this season as he has relatively few ranking points to defend.
Roger Federer, the world number three, may be well behind Rafael Nadal for top spot on tour however the Swiss Maestro has a great opportunity in the clay court season. Federer's next match, according to RogerFederer.com, will come from the Monte Carlo Masters, a tournament that is scheduled for next week and Federer could start chipping away at Nadal's lead.
During last year's clay court season Federer only had one distinguished result, that being his appearance in the final of ATP Madrid (l. to Nadal). At ATP Rome 2010, Federer lost in the second round while he missed ATP Monte Carlo entirely last season. At the 2010 French Open Federer fell in the quarterfinals to Robin Soderling and as a result of that he only picked up 360 ranking points in that Grand Slam event.
With those results combined, Monte Carlo, Rome, Madrid, and Roland Garros, Federer only has 970 ranking points to defend from the 2010 clay court season and if he performs exceptionally well, he could experience tremendous growth during April, May, and early June of 2011.
The main potential source of ranking points in the near future is next week's event in Monte Carlo as everything the Swiss Maestro gains there will be a net gain. How he performs in that tournament may set a tone for the entire clay court season as well as Federer looks to stay competitive with his younger competition.
