WIMBLEDON IS THE PRIORITY FOR FEDERER
Swiss ace, 39, pulls out of French Open as a precaution as he doesn’t want to “push it” after two knee surgeries
Rogerfedererhaswithdrawn from the French Open ahead of his scheduled fourthround match against Matteo Berrettini today.
Federer had admitted after his late-night victory over Dominik Koepfer on Saturday that he could take such a course of action amid concerns about jeopardising his Wimbledon chances.
The 20-time grand slam champion said in a statement: “After discussions with my team, I’ve decided I will need to pull out of Roland Garros today.
“After two knee surgeries and over a year of rehabilitation, it’s important that I listen to my body and make sure I don’t push myself too quickly on my road to recovery. I am thrilled to have gotten three matches under my belt. There is no greater feeling than being back on court.”
Federer went under the knife twice last year and had only played three matches in 16 months prior to arriving in Paris. He made it very clear he was playing at Roland Garros with an eye on getting some match practice in for Wimbledon rather than because he had real ambitions of challenging for the title.
He defeated Denis Istomin and Marin Cilic prior to Saturday’s clash with Koepfer, where he produced an errorstrewn performance and needed three hours and 35 minutes to make it past the German.
Tournament director Guy
Forget said: “The Roland Garros tournament is sorry about the withdrawal of Roger Federer, who put up an incredible fight last night.
“We were all delighted to see Roger back in Paris, where he played three high-level matches.
"We wish him all the best for the rest of the season.”
It remains to be seen whether Federer, who turns 40 in August, will play again on the Parisian clay or whether his final memory will be of walking off an empty court at 1am.
For now, his priority is to begin training on grass ahead of next week’s ATP tournament in Halle and then his bid for a ninth Wimbledon title.
Berrettini will move
through to his first French Open quarter-final, where he will play either Novak Djokovic or Lorenzo Musetti.
Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the quarter-finals in Paris for a second consecutive year with a straight-sets victory over Pablo Carreno Busta.
The Greek has won more matches than any other man this season and arrived at Roland Garros as one of the big favourites for the title.
The only hiccup against Spain’s Carreno Busta came when he went a break down early in the third set but Tsitsipas fought back to win 6-3, 6-2, 7-5.
Daniil Medvedev continued to answer the doubters – including himself – as he
made it four straight wins with an impressive 6-2, 6-1, 7-5 victory over Chile’s Cristian Garin. It was the first time Medvedev had faced a true clay-courter but he continued to have all the answers, recovering from a break down in the third set. In the last eighth, the second seed will meet Tsitsipas.
In the women’s draw, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova reached her first French Open quarter-final for 10 years with victory over Victoria Azarenka. Russian Pavlyuchenkova hit 45 winners and came from a set down to claim a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 win. Pavlyuchenkova now has the chance to register a best performance at the majors at the age of 29.