Fed May Not Play French...

[Tommy Haas]

I see two reasons for him skipping the French Open. One is he avoids losing to Nadal and maintains the recent mental edge he has over him.

The second is that the surface is just too slow for his new style of play. His body won't be able to handle the gruelling points. His laser beam put aways will be neutralized by clay.

If Fed plays French, he'll give it his best and go all out like any great champion would and that's risking Wimbledon. It's just a matter of picking his battles at his age.

 

[Druss]

Running scared from Bull.

AO-IW-Miami 2017

 

[MasturB]

Voice of reason you are, not for the first time.

How about just wait and see what will happen?
Lord Fedr ain't a Spring Chicken anymore (despite the claims of certain underaged ignorami, or otherwise mentally challenged on this forum ), and if anything, noone knows better how to schedule his appearances better than anyone else than him and his team - wasn't AO 2017 (and the follow-ups at IW and Miami) already proof of that enough?

There's no point in chasing another #1 ATP ranking for Feds, his resume is already pretty convincing in that department.
If anything, I'd like to see him have a good shot at Wimbledon 2017 and perhaps the USO too - but RG is a goner for him, and he knows that very well himself, regarding the fact that he's been able to do *zilch* at any of the clay court tournaments in the past couple of years.

It really boggles my mind to see folks wanting Fed to drain himself out - perhaps - playing RG, and most likely missing out of the grass season as a result of that bad decision.
End of story: he and his team know best.

Where does this notion come from?

He was injured last year. But he's made a clay court final in every year.

Rome 2015
MC 2014
Rome 2013
Madrid 2012
RG 2011
Madrid 2010
RG/Madrid 2009

 

[VexlanderPrime]

Dude should just start training on grass now, skip everything including RG and just destroy everyone at W.

This... actually isn't a bad idea haha. He probably SHOULD do this...

At the same time, I look at how he's playing, then the weak field ... and I can't help but ask, if he could play IW/Miami, how can u pass up a slam opportunity

 

[racquetreligion]

wont be easy to win wimby and US Open but Clay leave it alone Roger leave it alone
leave it for Moon ballers and those who like to cover the rear wall advertising & sponsors

 

[AiRFederer]

Feels weird. And freaking 3 months without Federer?

 

[Surion]

I'll be surprised if he skips Rome, let alone RG.

He'll skip both.
Why should he play Rome? He already said he'll definitely won't play any clay masters and that's good.

 

[SLD76]

I doubt it


Fed seems like the type of player to not disrespect a slam by skipping it if he is healthy

 

[kabob]

I honestly hope he doesn't do it though, I don't like the precedent it sets. I think ultimately he'll realize that unless he's truly injured and doesn't feel he can compete at a high level, he'll show up and play in Paris.

Why? I think it's a wonderful precedent. Tennis players are sole contractors in charge of their own bodies and their own careers. After you've given over a decade to the sport and are well into your 30s, you deserve to have more control over your schedule in order to preserve yourself for a longer career and/or be able to live pain and chronic disability free after tennis. Guga Kuerten says that he still can't sleep without serious discomfort to this day after his chronic hip problems that ended his career early and weren't fixed after multiple surgeries.

 

[Sartorius]

This is apparently what he said in a Swiss interview:

http://www.watson.ch/Sport/Schweiz/788725831-Roger-Federer--«Ich-muss-nicht-auch-noch-kitschig-aufhören»

Would you have skipped the clay tourmanments, too, if your comback would have been less successfull?
"If I had lost in every tournament in the first round, then i would have probably played somewhere. But the opinion in my team was early on to play two clay tournaments at most, maybe just one or maybe no tournament at all.

[...] My team also thought: Matches on clay are not good for my knee. And my coaches told me, i may burn energy that i lack later. I myself said: I would prefert to play no tournament at all. Then i can come back after the break inspired and motivated, maybe even with new ideas. It worked out perfect the last time, after all."

But the French Open you certainly are going to play?
"That we are going to decide on May 10 when we finish the training in Dubai. Then we decide if i change on clay. It will be important how i feel. Or if something happened - physically, mentally or no idea what. As it looks like today, i'm going to play the French. But a withdrawal will be considered. Then the break would not be 7 but 10 weeks. But as I said: Just simply playing, i don't do that anymore. So you can't achieve any miracles!"

At the French, you would play without any match-experience on clay. Is it even realistic to be ambitious?

I can play my attacking hardcourt tennis also on clay. This works very well. If it's dry in Paris, then the conditions are quick, maybe even quicker than Wimbledon. It could be totally interesting to see how i play on clay. The plan is to keep playing agressive so i don't have to switch my style of play for grass. And sometime, when i'm pushed back, i want to use clay to my advantage. I proved 2009 that I can win the French Open with that kind of tennis.

 

[Russeljones]

So arrogant.

I don't need the French. The French needs me.

 

[Sentinel]

I want Nadal to win La Decima, so it's better Federer does not play. Don't want Fedr beating Nadal in the 4th round or (with their current rankings I guess it would be SF or QF earliest). Don't want Fedr to expose Nadal "fresh dawn".

 

[Sentinel]

So arrogant.

I don't need the French. The French needs me.

Just think of it.
If Lord Fedr had tweaked his backhand years back, he would be comfortably sitting on a couple CYGS's and be the greatest clay courter ever, too.

@sureshs @Rusty Shackleford @90's Clay @60's Grass

 

[zagor]

This... actually isn't a bad idea haha. He probably SHOULD do this...

At the same time, I look at how he's playing, then the weak field ... and I can't help but ask, if he could play IW/Miami, how can u pass up a slam opportunity

Because it isn't a slam opportunity, Fed is not a contender at FO this year (and hasn't been one ever since 2012). It's what everyone sane has been saying this year amidst Fed's great run on HC.

All of Fed's current deficiencies that he masked on HC by his ultra-aggressive baseline play would be very much exposed on clay. Not to mention that contrary to what the people are saying, clay is the most grueling surface when it comes to pro tennis (not weekend hacking with your buddies) which is why CC specialists on average suffer more injuries and have shorter careers compared to HC players. Fed could easily get injured at FO/clay and see his Wimbledon hopes vanish into thin air.

 

[falstaff78]

Man how huge was FO 2009?

Now Roger can just play the french if he wants, and not play if he doesn't want.

Can worry about things that matter (ie wimbledon) with no stress

 

[ChrisRF]

Alternate headline: "Fed MAY play the French."

In MAY Fed plays the French!

 

[abmk]

Because it isn't a slam opportunity, Fed is not a contender at FO this year (and hasn't been one ever since 2012). It's what everyone sane has been saying this year amidst Fed's great run on HC.

All of Fed's current deficiencies that he masked on HC by his ultra-aggressive baseline play would be very much exposed on clay. Not to mention that contrary to what the people are saying, clay is the most grueling surface when it comes to pro tennis (not weekend hacking with your buddies) which is why CC specialists on average suffer more injuries and have shorter careers compared to HC players. Fed could easily get injured at FO/clay and see his Wimbledon hopes vanish into thin air.

tbh, Miami is the closest HC there is to a CC and he still played it after winning IW in dominant fashion , when he could have taken off for a vacation.
and he played tough matches there in miami and grinded it out to an extent.

 

[zagor]

tbh, Miami is the closest HC there is to a CC and he still played it after winning IW in dominant fashion , when he could have taken off for a vacation.
and he played tough matches there in miami and grinded it out to an extent.

Yeah but it's still HC, it's still has that sure footing and predictable bounce that allows him to take the ball early so consistently throughout the whole match (which serves a very important function of making the other guy run), serve is still a big weapon. Didn't see Fed grind out that much in Miami, he had matches where he made more UFEs (like against RBA) but he still more or less stuck to his guns and kept going for it even after important misses on big points.

If Miami was that similar to CC, Roddick wouldn't have two titles there and Nadal wouldn't have zero.

 

[abmk]

Yeah but it's still HC, it's still has that sure footing and predictable bounce that allows him to take the ball early so consistently throughout the whole match (which serves a very important function of making the other guy run), serve is still a big weapon. Didn't see Fed grind out that much in Miami, he had matches where he made more UFEs but he still more or less stuck to his guns and kept going for it even after important misses on big points.

If Miami was that similar to CC, Roddick wouldn't have two titles there and Nadal wouldn't have zero.

yeah, I know it isn't that similar to a CC - again, movement difference in HC and CC is a major factor here ...but can you think of any HC that is closer to a CC than Miami is ?

and I did say grind out to an extent, which he did ...clearly more so than at AO or IW.

If it was a comparison b/w Miami and another CC masters, say Rome or Monte Carlo, obviously would go with Miami.
But you are comparing with RG here, a slam.

 

[Feather]

Because it isn't a slam opportunity, Fed is not a contender at FO this year (and hasn't been one ever since 2012). It's what everyone sane has been saying this year amidst Fed's great run on HC.

All of Fed's current deficiencies that he masked on HC by his ultra-aggressive baseline play would be very much exposed on clay. Not to mention that contrary to what the people are saying, clay is the most grueling surface when it comes to pro tennis (not weekend hacking with your buddies) which is why CC specialists on average suffer more injuries and have shorter careers compared to HC players. Fed could easily get injured at FO/clay and see his Wimbledon hopes vanish into thin air.

As always, you are the words of wisdom, one of my favorite posters here right from my first day here.

I am of the opinion that he should skip RG. I always loved to see him play on clay. I think his artistry expressed itself best on grass, then clay and least on hard courts. Despite all the success he had this year, I don't see him reaching QF, or I should say at best QF, and for that he would be spending a lot of energy. QF is 360 points. He can play Roger's cup which he skips a lot these days instead of that. He can relatively easily reach QF and make up those 360 points.

 

[abmk]

As always, you are the words of wisdom, one of my favorite posters here right from my first day here.

I am of the opinion that he should skip RG. I always loved to see him play on clay. I think his artistry expressed itself best on grass, then clay and least on hard courts. Despite all the success he had this year, I don't see him reaching QF, or I should say at best QF, and for that he would be spending a lot of energy. QF is 360 points. He can play Roger's cup which he skips a lot these days instead of that. He can relatively easily reach QF and make up those 360 points.

why should he play Canada Masters ? he can play Cincy as a warm up to the US Open. No point in playing 2 warmups before USO and taking a risk.

 

[Feather]

why should he play Canada Masters ? he can play Cincy as a warm up to the US Open. No point in playing 2 warmups before USO and taking a risk.

1) he has more chances of winning Canada than RG

2) Canada suits his style a lot more than RG

 

[Rafa the King]

Stuttgart
Hale
WIM
CAN
CIN
USO
BAS
PAR
WTF
Possible schedule? Maybe including RG and/or SHA

Total of 9750 points, needing 5-6K from it looks very tough

 

[abmk]

1) he has more chances of winning Canada than RG

2) Canada suits his style a lot more than RG

1. Canada is a masters 1000, RG is a slam . that should normally be enough to make RG a higher priority.

2. Secondly, why 2 warmups before the USO ? cincy alone is enough. he has a good shot at winning cincy anyways.
no point in overplaying before the USO.

 

[Deleted member 512391]

Will be weird if he doesn't play it though. Skipping Masters is one thing (he's done that plenty of times) but never before he has ever skipped playing a Slam unless, like last year, he is injured. Will be very surprised if he doesn't play RG!

Is he allowed to skip Slams any way without a valid excuse? I know he's exempt from playing all other events but I didn't think that extended to Slams!

He doesn't need an excuse, Majors aren't mandatory.

 

[Noelan]

How come when some fanboy said that he is sharpening for RG Final showdown against Nadal?

He clearly said he will decide later in may if he will play or not.

 

[racquetreligion]

I love watching Fed but prefer not to see him at RG and attach the grass and hardcourt events he wants
then build his way to the atp finals. Playing the French he risks straining his knee and his fine hardcourt form
as he goes from no sliding to sliding then no sliding again so at worst could muck up his form as well

 

[Mainad]

He doesn't need an excuse, Majors aren't mandatory.

Interesting, thanks. I always assumed they were (at least since the late 80s).

 

[ncgator]

I love watching Fed but prefer not to see him at RG and attach the grass and hardcourt events he wants
then build his way to the atp finals. Playing the French he risks straining his knee and his fine hardcourt form
as he goes from no sliding to sliding then no sliding again so at worst could muck up his form as well

I agree, and would not be surprised if Federer does not play FO. He is putting his energy into Wimbledon and USO. I think his decision could be affected by how well Nadal does in clay court events leading up to FO. If Federer thinks Nadal and others are not playing that well, he could decide to give it a go.

 

[Gazelle]

If Federer skips RG, he will win Wimbledon and USO, because of irony.

 

[BeatlesFan]

I just do not want him to damage his chances on grass by going deep at RG and have nothing to show for it.

So true. If Roger skips the FO, then he's putting all his eggs into one basket: Wimbledon. That seems like it would be putting a ton of pressure on him. Imagine if he only wins Stuttgart on the grass, loses at Halle and doesn't win Wimbledon. He will surely regret then not even bothering to play on the clay. Never mind that he's been in fabulous form and months away might compromise that.

Lendl skipped the FO twice to try and win Wimbledon and we know how that worked out. And yes, Roger is a much greater grass player than Lendl, but still...

 

[BeatlesFan]

If he *WINS* Wimbledon, expect a retirement announcement too.

You must not have been following Fed's own pronouncements on this. He's not retiring for at least 3 years.

 

[Hitman's Gurl]

So true. If Roger skips the FO, then he's putting all his eggs into one basket: Wimbledon. That seems like it would be putting a ton of pressure on him. Imagine if he only wins Stuttgart on the grass, loses at Halle and doesn't win Wimbledon. He will surely regret then not even bothering to play on the clay. Never mind that he's been in fabulous form and months away might compromise that.

Lendl skipped the FO twice to try and win Wimbledon and we know how that worked out. And yes, Roger is a much greater grass player than Lendl, but still...

I would not say he is putting his eggs in one basket. He has clearly stated that Wimbledon and USO are the big goals. I don't see it being a ton of pressure on him. Trying to get too greedy by thinking he can win RG and taking his eye of the big prize which is Wimbledon can hurt him. AO was a miracle. RG would be that multiplied by ten. Wimbledon is looking much realistic at the moment. I think winning a 19th slam and 8th Wimbledon title is much more realistic than attempting to go for CYGS at nearly 36 years of age! Sorry but that is my personal feelings. Roger knows what is best but I don't think he should.

I would not compare Ivan on grass to Roger. Interesting how you bring up Ivan to show what happened when he skipped RG to try to win Wimbledon. Do you remember Bjorn did it once also? How about Andy in 2013? And Roger is a better grass player than both, but still...

For me Roger should focus on Wimbledon, the grass and his best chance at 19 to shut the door on anyone chasing his slam record.

 

[airchallenge2]

It would be a shame not to see this re-invented Roger on clay courts. It would be great for tennis he could make it to RG and doesn't get kicked out in the first week.

 

[SpinToWin]

Some Fed fans in this thread are so ridiculous it makes me cringe.

Was the AO a surprise? Yeah, but he won the AO in 2010, after which he reached the SF every year except for freak 2015. His recent results at that slam speak for themselves, he's been a solid contender throughout down under, despite his age.

Meanwhile, his last SF appearance at RG is way back in 2012. He's lost either in R4 or the QF since then, and he's lost against Tsonga, Wawrinka, and Gulbis in those matches. To speak of him as having a real chance at RG or even the CYGS considering his recent record (even missing it last year) is a joke at this point.

Then you consider that he won't be dropping any points anyways, and that he's actually defending points in the grass season (which is a priority for him anyways). Add to that that he has had injury issues relating to clay in recent years, particularly with his knee (though also with his back IMV, for the movement on clay puts more strain on the back) and one must speak of a considerable risk to endanger his success of the grass season as a whole.

 

[pame]

Voice of reason you are, not for the first time.

How about just wait and see what will happen?
Lord Fedr ain't a Spring Chicken anymore (despite the claims of certain underaged ignorami, or otherwise mentally challenged on this forum ), and if anything, noone knows better how to schedule his appearances better than anyone else than him and his team - wasn't AO 2017 (and the follow-ups at IW and Miami) already proof of that enough?

===snip=====

I just had to acknowledge that enterprising coinage - a decidedly whimsical antonym of cognoscenti

 

[Deleted member 512391]

Interesting, thanks. I always assumed they were (at least since the late 80s).

Both Andre and Pete skipped AO several times, I'm not sure if they cited the injury as a reason, but it seems that it wasn't unusual for players to not play at Majors during 90s (Muster entered Wimbledon only four times in his career, for example).

I don't know about 70s or 80s, but the fact that the AO didn't always attract the best players (even during 80s) tells me that the Majors weren't mandatory during that period. McEnroe, Connors and even Borg and Evert used to skip FO during 70s, etc...

 

[imonfire]

Roger and his team know what they are doing. I'd love to see him play at RG because his game is fun to watch on any surface, there will be no pressure on him to go deep and the tournament will be much less interesting without him, but I'll be fine with it should he decide to skip it. In the end, while we can speculate and make educated guesses, Roger can better tell what helps or harms his game at this point.

I do expect some criticism from the press, players, fans, and tournament organizers, if he skips a slam while injury-free and in great form.

 

[Roddick85]

Sure it'd be nice for Federer to play the FO, but with no preparation, why risk injuring himself when realistically his chances of victory are on the low side? The grass season follows up right after. I'd much rather see Federer save himself to play a full grass season and win another Wimbledon title so he's not tied to Pistol Pete anymore. Let's not forget that after that, he will likely skip Montreal/Rogers Cup, play Cincinnati & the USO where his chances of victory are also quite good.

 

[Noelan]

Because it isn't a slam opportunity, Fed is not a contender at FO this year (and hasn't been one ever since 2012). It's what everyone sane has been saying this year amidst Fed's great run on HC.

All of Fed's current deficiencies that he masked on HC by his ultra-aggressive baseline play would be very much exposed on clay. Not to mention that contrary to what the people are saying, clay is the most grueling surface when it comes to pro tennis (not weekend hacking with your buddies) which is why CC specialists on average suffer more injuries and have shorter careers compared to HC players. Fed could easily get injured at FO/clay and see his Wimbledon hopes vanish into thin air.

Clay is more friendy to knees than HC

 

[Povl Carstensen]

It would be great if he and his team found that his present no-compromise style could somehow be adapted to clay... Come on Lubicic

 

[heninfan99]

unless injured he's def playing the French

 

[rodrigoamaral]

If I was him, I would skip the French as he won't have any matches going into it and then its a quick turn-around to the grass season.. he has a much better chance of gettting wimbledon and finishing the year strong on the u.s. hard courts.

 

[Tommy Haas]

Players skipped the AO not because major tournaments weren't mandatory, but because it used to be viewed as the least prestigious grand slam.

 

[TheMusicLover]

unless injured he's def playing the French

I think so, too. RG is just too prestigious to skip, unless he's really not up for playing it.
Still, if there are any doubts come midway May, I'd rather see him skip it than taking risks and perhaps jeopardizing his - much better - chances during the grass season.

We'll just have to wait and see.

 

[droliver]

If you want to be a professional ATP player, then you should hold yourself to the requirements other tourplayers are rather then seeking to be treated differently. I disagree with skipping mandatory masters and slams to make a run at tournament X if he's otherwise healthy. He an all time great and part of the attraction and financial success of the tour. It's bad for the tour to be bending rules on participation in the same way that tournaments bending rules to get Sharapova in is.

 

[smoledman]

He'll go for the grass sweep instead.

 

[LETitBE]

If you want to be a professional ATP player, then you should hold yourself to the requirements other tourplayers are rather then seeking to be treated differently. I disagree with skipping mandatory masters and slams to make a run at tournament X if he's otherwise healthy. He an all time great and part of the attraction and financial success of the tour. It's bad for the tour to be bending rules on participation in the same way that tournaments bending rules to get Sharapova in is.

Federer has earned the right to do as he pleases, by as you say "holding himself to the requirements of the tour"nearly 36 with 1350 matches.Apart from last year,when has he taken an extensive break from the tour?

 

[droliver]

Federer has earned the right to do as he pleases,

That's a horrible idea to suggest that the same rules don't apply for everyone. If you're not fit enough to play the schedule required of top ranked pros then you should shut it down until healthy. Skipping the biggest events on tour when healthy is a bad message, especially when he's still been doing exos this year.

 

[LETitBE]

That's a horrible idea to suggest that the same rules don't apply for everyone. If you're not fit enough to play the schedule required of top ranked pros then you should shut it down until healthy. Skipping the biggest events on tour when healthy is a bad message, especially when he's still been doing exos this year.

when other players have been on the tour for 20 years and played 1350 matches they can do it too,should he have come up with a fake injury instead?