Veteran skips clay-court season to focus on Wimbledon and US Open
NEW YORK — After spending a few days practicing on clay courts in Switzerland, a healthy and rested Roger Federer settled on his upcoming agenda: Bypassing the French Open to focus on Wimbledon and the US Open.
“It was a tough decision to take, because he likes to play the French Open, likes to play the big tournaments,” Federer’s long-time coach Severin Luthi said in a telephone interview on Monday.
“But I think it was the best decision for him. It’s an investment in his career — for this season and for the coming seasons.”
Federer posted a message entitled “Roger to skip Roland Garros” on his website on Monday, announcing he will refrain from competing on clay in 2017 and instead will prepare for the grass and hard-court events.
“I’ve been working really hard, both on and off the court, during the last month, but in order to try to play on the ATP World Tour for many years to come, I feel it’s best to skip the clay court season this year,” Federer wrote.
It’s the second year in a row he has pulled out of the French Open, where main-draw play begins in Paris on May 28.
Federer won the title at the clay-court major in 2009 to complete a career grand slam.
His absence a year ago, because of back and knee problems that plagued him in 2016, ended his record streak of appearing in 65 consecutive Slams — every one since the start of 2000. But now the owner of a record 18 majors feels great — and he’s anxious to keep it that way.
“We are in a good situation. He is (healthier than he’s) been in the last five years. We could take the decision out of a position of strength,” Luthi said about pulling out of the French Open.
“We talked a few times about it but wanted to give ourselves time to think about it. We spoke again yesterday and made the final decision today.”
Luthi said Federer plans to play at two grass-court tournaments in Germany — at Stuttgart starting on June 12 and at Halle the week after that — before heading to Wimbledon, where play begins on July 3.
The 35-year-old Swiss has not played in a tournament