Federer to make only clay appearance in France
Roger Federer will make his only appearance on clay this season at Roland Garros, his agent has told Reuters.
Roger only playing French on clay
- Thread starter pj80
- Start date
Nadal_Django
Legend
Wrong decision. He needs more matches. 
RaulRamirez
Legend
(Assuming Fed can't draw Rafa, Thiem and Novak before the semis, of course), I'd add Zverev to the list (at least, he has the game for it, and making the semis at AO may give him more belief), and possibly Stan. We'll see if anyone else has a good clay swing coming in.
BGod
G.O.A.T.
Good. This is what I imagined, not playing any more than the French because he's defending the most points there.
I think as I said last year his floor is the 4th round and he can make SF if the draw goes his way. But Wawrinka could have beaten him last year and he seems improved so I'd take him over Roger if they met again.
I think as I said last year his floor is the 4th round and he can make SF if the draw goes his way. But Wawrinka could have beaten him last year and he seems improved so I'd take him over Roger if they met again.
canta_Brian
Hall of Fame
Considering how slow lots of hard courts are these days I would have thought the loose surface offers Fed a less physical tournament than an Oz open. So semi is a possibility
BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
360 points for Madrid/Rome
720 for the FO semi
Total: 1080 points. But he gained 540 points at the AO this year by making the semis. He will be defending a total of 2100 points from Dubai, IW and Miami, which will be tough to defend.
helterskelter
G.O.A.T.
Zverev?
DSH
Talk Tennis Guru
If Federer does not accumulate enough points to be in the top 4 for Wimbledon (he is currently the fourth pre-qualified after Djokovic, Nadal and Medvedev), would you rather see him face the Serbian in a hypothetical quarterfinals at Center Court?
Hitman
Bionic Poster
BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
Wimbledon has its own seeding formula and Federer, regardless of his results the rest of the year, will be a top 4 seed. He could be ranked 8th in July and because of their seeding formula (last year's grass results factored in), he'll be top 4 seed.
Edit: Didn't see Hitman's post already explaining it.
DSH
Talk Tennis Guru
While writing this, I am reviewing the race to Wimbledon, and currently the Swiss is the fourth pre-qualified with 5025 points, 85 points below Medvedev and with a still important advantage over Thiem, who is currently fifth.
Considering Federer's age, it is very likely that for the first time since 2002, he will not be part of the top 4 when the third Major of the season begins.
ATP Open Era & Live Rankings
ATP Live Rankings, Forecast for the next 52 weeks and Open Era ATP Rankings database.
openerarankings.com
ForehandCross
G.O.A.T.
While writing this, I am reviewing the race to Wimbledon, and currently the Swiss is the fourth pre-qualified with 5025 points, 85 points below Medvedev and with a still important advantage over Thiem, who is currently fifth.
Considering Federer's age, it is very likely that for the first time since 2002, he will not be part of the top 4 when the third Major of the season begins.
ATP Open Era & Live Rankings
ATP Live Rankings, Forecast for the next 52 weeks and Open Era ATP Rankings database.
He will not be in the top 4 but will be seeded in as one simply because WB seeding takes last two years worth of grass points along with ATP Ranking.WB have their own system. And Federer has enough to get him a top 4 seed even if ranked 6-7.
Hitman
Bionic Poster
While writing this, I am reviewing the race to Wimbledon, and currently the Swiss is the fourth pre-qualified with 5025 points, 85 points below Medvedev and with a still important advantage over Thiem, who is currently fifth.
Considering Federer's age, it is very likely that for the first time since 2002, he will not be part of the top 4 when the third Major of the season begins.
ATP Open Era & Live Rankings
ATP Live Rankings, Forecast for the next 52 weeks and Open Era ATP Rankings database.
I wouldn't be writing his eulogy just yet, he will be aware of what he needs to get top four also.
canta_Brian
Hall of Fame
They are only big because of the clay bias though.
ThiemPlayer
Rookie
Stranger things have happened. Maybe Federer will win FO20!
D
Deleted member 744633
Guest
WIthout any preparation, Federer can still get to the semi-final. He is among the best players of his generation on clay.
D
Deleted member 744633
Guest
Stranger things have happened. Maybe Federer will win FO20!
That is taking it too far. Semi-final very likely. Final- possible.
Win the title- 0 chance.
ThiemPlayer
Rookie
That's quite stupid. But you must know that. It's never 0 chance, especially for someone like Federer.
DSH
Talk Tennis Guru
Stranger things have happened. Maybe Federer will win FO20!
Yes, in mixed doubles!
Raul_SJ
G.O.A.T.
Wrong decision. He needs more matches.
Makes no sense. How the hell can he go into the French without playing any clay matches?!?!
He is a decent player on clay. If the draw goes his way and Rafa stumbles, he can go deep.
But not playing any warmups? Might as well not even show up. This is bullsh#t.
Mike Sams
G.O.A.T.
But why would he care about going deep? If he doesn't feel he's got a chance in hell of winning the French Open, why bother with clay? He's not going to beat Nadal or Djokovic or Thiem. He'll probably struggle against many other lower ranked players.
Mike Sams
G.O.A.T.
A guy nearing 39 trying to grind it out on clay against much younger players! LOL Not going to happen.
Mainad
Bionic Poster
Monte Carlo and Rome have always been big tournaments though, long before they were included in the present Masters series.
AnOctorokForDinner
Talk Tennis Guru
Not always.
Mainad
Bionic Poster
Apparently there was a time when the Italian Open (Rome) was thought to be a bigger clay event than Roland Garros.
tennis_pro
Bionic Poster
No Monte Carlo or Barcelona?
Mainad
Bionic Poster
Has Fed ever played Barcelona?
DSH
Talk Tennis Guru
Many of here are unaware of the history of tennis. It is not worth deepening a point with them.
AnOctorokForDinner
Talk Tennis Guru
Yes, in the amateurs when all events were lesser because the best players went pro and didn't play. Perhaps in the early 70s as well, but then the clay season was effectively second-rate due to conflicts with WCT schedules.
My actual point was that MC was a lesser tournament before early 80s.
tennis_pro
Bionic Poster
Like 20 years ago
Raul_SJ
G.O.A.T.
The draw needs to go his way and maybe Thiem upsets Rafa and Dkoker's level goes down...Anything could happen. He looked damned respectable last year getting to SF.
Fed has said that the main reason he continues to play is to win more slams. And he has skipped the French many times in recent years to focus on Wimbledon; many said it was a wise strategy.
If he is going into the French half-assed, he should just skip it just like he did in recent years... What has changed now? What does he gain by playing it now whereas he skipped it earlier?
Mike Sams
G.O.A.T.
He also had the absolute weakest draw leading up to the SF. He didn't play any threat whatsoever other than Stan in the QF who was already dead from the previous match going 8-6 in the 5th set against Tsitsipas.
Federer has declined further since then. His last 2 Slams (USO and AO) have seen him physically falling apart on the court to the point where he's almost had to quit mid-way against journeymen. He's looking a lot worse than 1 year ago. And no surprise. He's really old now that he can barely keep up any longer. He might as well skip clay and give it one last go at Wimbledon.
Musterrific
Hall of Fame
Not sure about the wisdom of entering his weakest slam without any prior match play. What is his goal?
Raul_SJ
G.O.A.T.
Assuming skipping French does not affect Wimb seeding, there is no reason to play the French. Unlless it is a farewell appearance.
Even then, his past strategy was to focus on fitness by skipping French. Makes no sense to change that now.
But who wants to enter the French to get ass whipped by a nobody.
Going in half-assed is just a bad look. Either skip it or enter it with proper warmup events.
Raul_SJ
G.O.A.T.
Mainad
Bionic Poster
WHEN?
I read that it had a higher prestige back in the 50s and, as Octorok pointed out, back in the amateur era when professionals were banned from playing the Slams.
Subway Tennis
Legend
Federer is an amazing clay player. There is no reason he can't go deep at the French Open even without much prior matchplay on the surface.
The field is too deep for him to win it, but he is obviously thinking it is worth a shot. And last year, clay really grooved his hitting well for Wimbledon.
Not sure he is too worried about defending points. Federer could go winless between now and Wimbledon and LTA would still make sure he is seeded top 4
The field is too deep for him to win it, but he is obviously thinking it is worth a shot. And last year, clay really grooved his hitting well for Wimbledon.
Not sure he is too worried about defending points. Federer could go winless between now and Wimbledon and LTA would still make sure he is seeded top 4
The only thing that made no sense was skipping RG (or skipping any Slam when healthy) in the first place. I just hate it, especially when winning the most Slams is the ultimate goal. It is foolish to give up one chance per year deliberately, and after seeing what happened at the US Open in the past years I’m not even sure if it is the smallest chance.Assuming skipping French does not affect Wimb seeding, there is no reason to play the French. Unlless it is a farewell appearance.
Even then, his past strategy was to focus on fitness by skipping French. Makes no sense to change that now.
But who wants to enter the French to get ass whipped by a nobody.
Going in half-assed is just a bad look. Either skip it or enter it with proper warmup events.
The SF last year at RG followed by the Wimbledon final which he should have won (and in which he had great stamina as well) clearly showed that it isn’t about losing fitness by playing another tournament 3 weeks earlier (or even 5 weeks between both final weekends of the Slams).
Even as a fan I’m somewhat glad that the 2018 loss against Anderson seemed to have opened his eyes about how nonsensical the skipping was.
I agree that he should add at least one clay masters though.
I Am Finnish
Bionic Poster
He can live with it
DSH
Talk Tennis Guru
Well, Rosewall decided not to participate in the French Open in 1970 to have a better chance of winning the elusive Wimbledon title. His goal of his whole life. He reached the final in that edition and faced John Newcombe there. He was almost 10 years older than him. Unfortunately, he lost in 5 sets despite giving everything.
Okay, if this is the only remaining career goal, then maybe such a decision is understandable, but not if the full Slam count is on the line. Also I doubt that playing a few weeks earlier really influences the chances at Wimbledon.
By the way, not long ago I watched that 1970 final and I felt bad for Rosewall. I think it’s essentially the lack of a Wimbledon title which excludes him from many GOAT discussions, but he wasn’t really worse than Laver overall.
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