Federer withdraws from French Open
PARIS: Roger Federer has pulled out of this month’s French Open as he feels he needs to avoid playing on clay this season in order to prolong his career, the 18-times Grand Slam champion said yesterday.
The Swiss, who defied logic to win the Australian Open in January after being out of tennis for six months, will skip the May 28-June 11 claycourt major for a second year after missing last year’s edition through injury.
“In order to try and play on the ATP World Tour for many years to come, I feel it’s best to skip the claycourt season this year and prepare for the grass and hardcourt seasons,” world No 5 Federer, who won his sole Roland Garros title in 2009, said on his Facebook page.
“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.”
Federer, 35, has already won the three biggest titles of the year to date as he followed his triumph in Australia with wins at Indian Wells and the Miami Open.
The former world No 1’s announcement came a day after Rafael Nadal won his third consecutive claycourt title of the season before the French Open, where the Spaniard will be bidding for his 10th Roland Garros title.
Federer will focus on Wimbledon, which begins on July 3 and where he is a seven-times champion.
Meanwhile, world No 2 Novak Djokovic said he lost motivation after winning the French Open to complete a career Grand Slam last year, but now feels he is on the right path to rediscover his “mojo”.
The Serb reached the semi-finals of the Madrid Open last week, where he lost to eventual champion Nadal.
“If I could describe my tennis in one word, I feel like I’m in transition,” Djokovic said.
“Last year (after winning at Roland Garros) I found emptiness for the first time in terms of motivation.”
Djokovic’s victory in France was followed by a shock third-round defeat by Sam Querrey at Wimbledon. He reached the US Open final, but lost to Swiss Stan Wawrinka.
At this year’s Australian Open, six-times champion Djokovic was knocked out in the second round by 117thranked Denis Istomin.
The 29-year-old will play in the Rome Masters this week before attempting to defend his title at Roland Garros. – Reuters