Since Roger Federer's last outing on clay was nothing short of a nightmare, it is a bit surprising to see the Swiss has chosen to spend his honeymoon at the Monte Carlo Masters.

Instead of whisking his new bride off to a glamorous holiday destination, Federer turned up for work just three days after marrying his longtime girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec in a low-key ceremony in his hometown of Basel.

"Of course I spoke to Mirka. She was completely relaxed about whatever decision I took," the world No 2 told a press conference on Tuesday.

"I feel like I've been on a honeymoon for the last years, so I don't feel necessarily I need to go somewhere, to a special place, to celebrate with her."

Instead of reminiscing about the wedding celebrations with his wife, Federer will be looking to bury memories of his 2008 French Open final ordeal when he won just four games against Rafael Nadal.

"We've had a lot of nice moments over all those years. We don't feel like we need it necessarily," added Federer, who had at first decided to skip the claycourt event in the posh principality.

"I felt like it was the right thing to do, so I'm happy to be here."

Federer met Vavrinec while she was playing tennis for Switzerland at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.

He said his marriage was the icing on the cake of a long relationship.

"It's a very special moment. I thought it to be a bit more relaxed because we've been together for so, so long," he said.

"Once you get married, there's not a whole lot that changes. But it definitely does change your mindset, your life. It was nice sharing the moment with my family, my closest friends.

"I got very emotional. So it was very nice. It was just nice to know that she loves me so much, I love her so much.

"It was just a very nice day. We had perfect sky, perfect weather. It was just very, very nice."

Federer added that he shed tears of joy on his wedding day, three months after bursting into tears following his defeat to Nadal in the Australian Open final.

Federer is gunning for his first Monte Carlo Masters title after losing in the final to Nadal in the last three years. He was sheduled to start his campaign with a second-round match against Italian Andreas Seppi on Wednesday.

(Reuters via China Daily April 16, 2009)