Federer puts faith in Jose

Roger Federer will work

with clay-court

specialist coach Jose

Higueras this week in an

attempt to break his

French Open hoodoo.

The Swiss world No 1 has

never won the Roland

Garros title but will

meet Higueras at the

Estoril Open in Portugal

to see if the pair can

'make a good team'.

Federer (below) has

failed to reach a final in

four tournaments this

year.

His agent Tony Godsick said the

partnership with

Higueras, who coached

Michael Chang to the

1989 French Open title,

could be long-term.

"It is a test period but it is

not just something for

the clay-court season,"

said Godsick. "Roger is

not looking to hire

coaches just for specific

surfaces. This is

something he is testing

out to replace the

arrangement he had

with (former coach)

Tony Roche."