ATP Tour - Federer to trim clay court schedule

Eurosport - Mon, 08 Dec 10:09:00 2008

Roger Federer has said he will trim his clay court schedule for 2009 despite the French Open, played on clay at Roland Garros, being the only major title missing from his collection.

TENNIS federer - 0

The world number two, who has lost the last three French Open finals to Rafael Nadal, will skip the Monte Carlo event and intends to play just the warm-up tournaments in Rome and Madrid.

Federer, whose prime objective in 2009 is to win back the Wimbledon crown he sensationally lost to Nadal, played four claycourt events in 2008 at Estoril, Monte Carlo, Rome and Hamburg before heading to Paris.

"I am really pleased with the season the way we have planned it and I am looking forward to an exciting year," said Federer, who currently has 13 Grand Slam titles to his name.

Federer, who also lost his Australian Open title in 2008 to Novak Djokovic, will start the new year in Doha before exhibition events in Abu Dhabi and Kooyong in Melbourne.

He also intends to play for Switzerland in the Davis Cup first round against the United States in March.

AFP

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  1. federer i love­ uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu............­ .
    forever......................:)......................­ ..........
    i know u r wining the french open­ 2009...............

    From nidhitiwari95, on Sun 7 Jun 11:48AM

  2. This is a unique site, **Tallloving com**,it provids­ professional services and best

    convenience for­ singles looking for online dating, romance, love or­ marriage.

    From liuqi852, on Wed 10 Dec 4:02AM

  3. Federer must recover his safe base first, Wimbledon,­ and then he can TRY to take the french from Nadal. It­ seems to me that Federer as already understood that if­ Nadal is out of RG he wins it, but if he has to face­ Nadal in another final is a sure thing that he will­ loose. Federer realized he hasnt anymore thoose­ victories in the warm up, that nowadays other players­ fight really hard to beat him, and with that, if he­ playd 4 clay tournaents again he would reach Paris­ tired up so he wouldnt really face a threat to Nadal­ AGAIN!

    Vaaammmmoos Rafa the Oz is wainting for you

    From tiagomarcelino, on Mon 8 Dec 11:09AM

  4. the site apparently can't process my english.

    From Helen H, on Sun 7 Dec 10:55AM

  5. invalid comment, how annoying.

    From Helen H, on Sun 7 Dec 10:54AM

  6. yeh right brainless murray on clay is a real threat.­ lol

    From ralph, on Sun 7 Dec 9:15AM

  7. YOU GUYS FOTGOT ABOUT MURRAY

    From Half A Brain, on Sat 6 Dec 8:20PM

  8. klkkpkoko

    From Ioannis, on Fri 5 Dec 7:50PM

  9. roger to win french and wimbledon from that spanish­ imposter

    From jjmalone, on Fri 5 Dec 6:04PM

  10. I hope Rafa and Roger continue their rivalry in­ 2009.

    Dr Vasos Pavlika

    From pavlikv, on Fri 5 Dec 2:56PM

  11. Wouldn't it make more sense if Federer trims his­ hard court schedule instead ? Afterall ,it is Roland­ Garros that is missing from his trophy case !!

    From Tim, on Fri 5 Dec 11:59AM

  12. ralph r has told it true. Roger does not need a hectic­ schedule leading upto roland garros. His main aim of­ course is to Win wimbledon in 2009, but the french is­ definatly his very close 2nd target. Roger is trying­ out a new tactic in his schedule and i wish him the­ best of luck. I think he will need almost a miracle to­ beat rafa on the clay at rolland garros but if anyone­ out there can beat rafa then Roger is the man.

    From graham123tractor, on Fri 5 Dec 12:02AM

  13. He has left 6 weeks open before his first clay­ tournament. When he worked with Higueras this year,­ they didn't really have time to do any serious­ training, Federer was in the middle of a slew of­ tournaments. My guess would be that he will take 2-3­ weeks off to rest up for the task, then train intensely­ for 3 weeks to a month (perhaps with a new coach), and­ then go into the clay tournaments really fired up. He­ probably doesn't need 4 tournaments to hit his­ peak, and perhaps he would be a little physically and­ mentally weary by the time the French came about if he­ played that much. With Wimbledon right after, I'm­ sure he wants to have some energy left.

    From dave_evangelista, on Thu 4 Dec 6:59PM

  14. allison roger would trade the wimbledon title any day­ for the french, the french is after all the only grand­ slam missing in his illustrious career. by putting less­ stress on himself with the clay season he is trying a­ new tactic which might just work, he will
    meet rafa­ less leading up to the french and consequently avoid­ possible demoralising defeats which is a smart move,­ less is sometimes more and its time for a change of­ tactics. good luck to him who knows maybe it will work.­ he knows he needs the french and 1 more slam to go down­ as the very best in history. rgds

    From ralph, on Thu 4 Dec 4:02PM

  15. I THINK ROGER WANTS TO WIN WIMBLEDON AGAIN NEXT YEAR HE­ NOT TO FUSSED ABOUT WINNING FRENCH OPEN. GOOD LUCK­ ANYWAY ROGER LETS HOPE ILLNESS DOESN'T GET IN THE­ WAY IN 09
    ALISON.

    From AJ, on Thu 4 Dec 2:27PM
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