Federer Withdraws From Madrid and Rome

and now it’s sure: Roger #Federer WD from #MMOPEN and #IBI17 entry lists

see you in Roland Garros pic.twitter.com/DDthxZqTTm

— Michele Galoppini (@MikGaloppini) April 7, 2017

Apparently, this means Federer is not eligible for a wild card at these events since he withdrew from the entry list. Federer said he probably won’t play any clay events before the French Open and I guess this makes it official.

This is somewhat surprising. I thought Federer might take a wild card at Rome and make a serious run at a second French Open title now that he finally seems to have the better of Nadal while Djokovic has been struggling.

I understand that a record 8th Wimbledon title is important to him and would no doubt be another very impressive achievement but it would also make his grand slam resume 5:1:8:5 which is a bit unbalanced. I think 5:2:7:5 looks better.

None of the big three have done the double career slam. Nadal came awfully close in Australia this year and Federer came pretty close at the French Open in 2011 himself. Federer has also never defeated Nadal at the French Open in five meetings.

Isn’t he making a mistake by not playing at least one warm up event to the French Open? He is playing two warm-up events on grass. Why doesn’t he rather skip one of them and play Rome? He will still be a factor at the French but it’s going to be difficult to win without proper preparation.

The French Open has always been Federer’s Achilles heel and clay has been his most challenging surface because he can’t depend as much on his serve to win cheap points or engage in ‘servebotting’ as some like to call it.

If there is a weakness in Federer’s game it has always been his lack of consistency from the baseline and ability to fight his way through long matches against the likes of Djokovic and prime Nadal. Some say that even the one French Open he won is not legitimate because he depended on someone else to remove Nadal.

A second French Open title would certainly put such talk to bed especially if he defeats Nadal. Sure, a record 8th Wimbledon title has a nice ring to it but I think a second French Open title would be more valuable.

Grass suits Federer’s game to a T. As far as I’m concerned he is already the greatest grass courter of all time. It is on clay where he has something to prove. Not to mention that the calendar slam is still on. And now he is almost skipping the entire clay court season?

Maybe he figures he won’t have any pressure this way which gives him his best chance. But I think his chances are slim with Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, and Wawrinka around if he doesn’t prepare properly.

Djokovic for one will be looking to start over during the clay court season and he has already gotten a much-needed Davis Cup win under his belt. Federer is just going to watch him find his form and win the double career slam?

I’m not saying it is a given but it could very well happen. That would be another significant achievement after the personal slam to set him apart from Federer. His slam resume would be 6:2:3:2.

That double career slam just gives the resume a big boost, regardless of whose resume it is. I think Djokovic is the most complete player ever and a second career slam would certainly prove it. Only Laver and Emerson have won the double career slam and they did it when majors were played only on clay and grass.

Djokovic is already the only man to win four consecutive slams on three different surfaces. I think Federer and his fans are too obsessed with Wimbledon. Sure it is the most important tournament in tennis but in the end, all the majors count for the same and Federer clearly has a lack of balance in his resume concerning clay.

If I was him I’d play at least Rome and put everything into winning another French Open. Federer will have his chances at Wimbledon even if he plays no warmup events!

What do you think?