But he also lost his first 11 singles matches on clay on the main ATP Tour before finally winning three rounds at the 2000 French Open. Winning the French Open would have to wait until 2009, when Nadal, the most successful clay-courter in history, was for once out of the frame after a fourth-round loss to Robin Soderling.

Federer puts that 2009 victory in his top three with his first Wimbledon title, in 2003, and his unexpected victory at the 2017 Australian Open. But the French Open generates mixed emotions.

“I had to come to love it and had to come to embrace it,” Federer said.

“It didn’t come like, hey, French Open this is it,” he said, snapping his fingers. “That was always going to be Wimbledon. I remember seeing Becker, Edberg and Sampras all holding up that trophy, and all three of those guys didn’t do that at the French. So my heroes did it at Wimbledon, so naturally Wimbledon was always going to be my No. 1.”

Federer has won eight Wimbledons, six Australian Opens, five United States Opens and just the one French Open. His career winning percentage on grass is 87 percent; on hard courts it’s 83 percent and on clay 76 percent. Federer’s winning percentage on clay still ranks behind only Nadal’s and Novak Djokovic’s among active players with at least 50 clay-court victories.

“It is probably Roger’s weakest surface, but the guy is a fantastic clay-court player,” said Brad Gilbert, the coach and ESPN analyst. “He’s not like a California guy who didn’t grow up playing on it.”

Federer is excited to see how his aggressive tactics and fine form translate to the surface at this stage. He will be ranked No. 3 on Monday. In his last three tournaments, all on hard courts, he won in Dubai, reached the final in Indian Wells, Calif., and won in Miami.