Federer To Miss Roland Garros

Roger Federer will return to the ATP World Tour on the grass. The 35-year-old Swiss announced on Monday that he will not play at Roland Garros, as he had initially planned. Federer made the decision with the next few years in mind.

“Regrettably, I’ve decided not to participate in the French Open. I’ve been working really hard, both on and off the court, during the last month, but in order to try and play on the ATP World Tour for many years to come, I feel it’s best to skip the clay-court season this year and prepare for the grass and hard-court seasons,” Federer said in a statement on his website.

The right-hander has had one of his best starts to a season. He’s currently 19-1 and has won three of the four tournaments he’s played, including the Australian Open, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and the Miami Open presented by Itau. His “Big Title” count has climbed to 50. Federer’s only defeat came against Russian Evgeny Donskoy in Dubai.

Roland Garros had been the only clay-court event Federer had planned to play. “The start to the year has been magical for me but I need to recognise that scheduling will be the key to my longevity moving forward,” he said. “Thus, 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. I will miss the French fans, who have always been so supportive and I look forward to seeing them at Roland Garros next year.”

Federer also missed Roland Garros last year when he was recovering from knee surgery. He plans to return in June at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart, where he will be going for his first title.