20-time grand slam champion Roger Federer has indicated when he will make a final decision about participating at the upcoming French Open.
The world No.1 hasn’t played at Roland Garros for almost three years. In 2016 he missed the event due to a back injury before deciding to skip the entire clay season a year later to focus his attention on the grass-court swing. It remains up in the air if he will miss the Paris major for a third consecutive year.
“I dream of coming back to Roland-Garros,” Federer told RMC Sport earlier in the week.
“[But] I do not know, I will decide that in April after Indian Wells.
“[It depends on] how I feel, it’s much more than a decision, it’s the decision of the year, it’s in the middle of the year, it’s a surface change.
“I’m going to focus on the hard but honestly, I hope.”
Federer has only won the French Open once in his career in 2009. Since then, he has only managed to make the final once in six attempts.
In recent months the 36-year-old Swiss has credited his longevity on the court to the careful management of his schedule. As illustrated by his absence from the clay last year. Former coach Stefan Edberg is one person that advises him to miss Roland Garros. In an interview with Indian website, Rediff, the 52-year-old believes it would be ‘very wise’ for him not play.
“He has to make the decision like he did last year. He has to think about having enough breaks so he can recover and be hungry for the big ones. I think choosing not to play on clay is very wise because it is not his best surface and the chances of him winning the French Open are not very big in my opinion.” He explained.
“So may as well forget about it and just aim at now playing well at Wimbledon and the US Open.”
Federer’s hasn’t played a competitive match on the clay since his loss to Dominic Thiem at the 2016 Italian Open. He will return to action next week at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells where he will be the defending champion.
