Roger Federer dropped a bomb on the tennis world by posting on social media that he won’t be participating in the French Open. Federer had taken a break from the entire clay court season, but everyone (including Federer) was optimistic about Federer’s chances of playing Roland Garros.
While Fed fans would be distort after hearing the news, it seems as if Roger has taken this call after seeing Nadal’s domination on clay this season, and how it would take a monumental effort to uproot the king of clay in Paris. At this stage of his career, Federer can participate only in tournaments that feels he has a shot at. In his letter to the fans, Federer made it very clear that this decision was taken keeping the longevity of his career in mind.
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Federer made a fairytale comeback to the tour, beating Rafa Nadal in a ‘final for the ages’ at the Australian Open, scripting what was possibly the most romantic moment in sport in the past few years. The fortnight in Australia seemed like a dream, maybe even a fluke, a tryst with destiny, but something unreal for sure. It had to be a bubble, didn’t it? How could Federer rise up to the top so quickly?
But he didn’t stop there. He conquered the Sunshine Double to complete what was possibly the greatest comeback of all time in the sport(or maybe even across sports). But what was the best part of the comeback? He didn’t over do it, he knew where to stop, and he did so by pulling out of the entire clay court season, but vowing to come back for the French Open.
On the face of it this seems like a good decision, as Federer isn’t worried about the number one ranking anymore, but wants to get more of those grand slams under his belt. He is focussing on his strengths, an attribute of someone who knows what he is doing.
This is how the world reacted to this shock news:
More reactions on the next page:
https://twitter.com/gmks1010/status/864196783844409344
