Grass is greener as Fed passes on Paris

since April 2, when he won his third title of 2017 at the Miami Open and improved his record this year to 19-1, all on hard courts. It’s his best start in more than a decade.

At the time, he said he would be taking a break from the tour and did not commit to returning in time for the French Open.

“The start to the year has been magical for me but I need to recognize that scheduling will be the key to my longevity moving forward,” Federer wrote.

“Thus, my team and I concluded today that playing just one event on clay was not in the best interest of my tennis and physical preparation for the remainder of the season.”

Clay tends to be the most physically demanding of surfaces, requiring plenty of tricky movement and sliding, along with lengthy, grind-itout points.

Federer’s great rival and the man known as the ‘King of Clay’, Rafa Nadal, has been back to his dominant self on the red stuff lately, compiling a 15-match winning streak and three consecutive titles, including at the Madrid Open last Sunday.

That has made Nadal the favorite to collect a record 10th Roland Garros title, which would be his 15 th major, three behind Federer.

Luthi said Federer didn’t take Nadal’s recent play into account as he weighed his options.

“It’s really more a decision about him than the others,” Luthi said. “It would be a mistake to look at them too much.”