Roger Federer: Apparently only on sand in Paris
Roger Federer will only compete on sand at the French Open in Paris.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Feb 13, 2020, 04:06 pm
Recently it was reported in variousmedia that Roger Federer was also planning a start in Madrid and Rome. That doesn't seem to be the case.
As the Swiss tennis journalist René Stauffer now found out, Federer seems to want to leave it at a sand start in Paris. The rumors that he will also compete in the Masters tournaments in Rome and Madrid are not true - this has been confirmed by Federer's manager Tony Godsick.
One final word does not necessarily have to be spoken yet: last year, in addition to the appearance in Roland Garros, Federer originally only announced one sand tournament in advance - namely Madrid. After his quarter-final defeat against Dominic Thiem - in which Federer did not use two match balls - he had reported for Rome at short notice. There he had also reached the quarter-finals, which he did not compete for health reasons. The day before, Federer had won in Rome against Borna Coric in three highly competitive sets and after defending two match balls .
Federer and the sand: which is better for Wimbledon?
However, the appearance in Madrid and Rome was definitely a success. Federer then went to the semi-finals in Roland Garros and until then had only delivered one set. In the round of the last four he was defeated in three rounds by the eventual winner Rafael Nadal.
Federer's main focus will be on Wimbledon anyway. In 2017 and 2018, the Swiss completely waived a trip on sand - with success in 2017 (victory in Wimbledon), less in 2018 (out in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, although he was injured at the time). In both years, Federer had a break from Miami to Stuttgart, around two and a half months without a match. In 2019 Federer played (after his appearances on sand) in Wimbledon until the final, where he lost to Novak Djokovic in a dramatic final in five sets.