Federer won’t be in French Open draw
Roger Federer — owner of
PARIS countless records and accolades in tennis — snapped one of his own streaks Thursday when he pulled out of the French Open: consecutive Grand Slams played.
The 17- time major champion withdrew from the tournament at Roland Garros, halting his number of consecutive Grand Slams played at 65, a record that began at the 2000 Australian Open.
“I have been making steady progress with my overall fitness, but I am still not 100% and feel I might be taking an unnecessary risk by playing in this event before I am really ready,” Federer wrote on his Facebook page. “This decision was not easy to make, but I took it to ensure I could play the remainder of the season and help to extend the rest of my career.”
That is the question that looms largest over this news: What is to be made of “the rest” of Federer’s career?
It has not been the 2016 that the former world No. 1, winner of 88 titles, had hoped for. After six tournament wins in 2015 and runner- up performances in Wimbledon and the U. S. Open, Federer has had a string of unexpected disappointments this season.
In February he had knee surgery for a torn meniscus.
In March he pulled out of Miami with a stomach virus.
And this month he skipped the Madrid Open because of an ongoing back injury, the latter of which is the chief suspect for his decision to skip the French Open.
Federer, 34, has reiterated that he remains “as motivated as ever.”
The last two years he has been resurgent.
In the offseason he joined forces with Ivan Ljubicic, a former world No. 3, who he spoke about as having the kind of insight into his game that could take him to the next level.
The father of four has made the Rio Olympics a target, and if there were ever a major to miss, the French Open was it. He’s won here once, in 2009, and has never beaten nine- time champion Rafael Nadal on the clay courts of Paris.
Federer now turns his focus to Wimbledon and the Summer Games to follow, which are on slicker, faster surfaces, which suit his blasting attack game.
Federer sits two match wins ( 1,070) away from No. 2 in the Open Era match wins list, passing Ivan Lendl’s mark of 1,071 victories. ( Jimmy Connors’ 1,256 wins is the most.)
Those two wins, Federer hopes, will now come on grass.
And that is the phase of his career Federer has entered: the tender, take- no- chances part. Serena Williams, six weeks Federer’s junior, is there as well. When the French Open begins Sunday, it will be just the fifth tournament of the year for Williams.
There is no question of Federer’s heart and desire to keep playing — and winning — at the big events. How much this back issue and his overall health could hinder him, that’s what looms large.
Asked last week if Federer’s back problems could spell doom for him, U. S. Davis Cup captain Jim Courier, a former world No. 1, said, “I don’t know enough about how severe his physical issues are, but let’s hope he does play.”
It’s clear that the body is calling the shots now, not the tennis player.