Roger Federer may play Barcelona, Rome and Roland Garros in 2019!
World no. 3 and the 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer had completed the Career Grand Slam at Roland Garros in 2009, winning the elusive title that had been running away from him in the previous seasons when he was unable to overpower Rafael Nadal and secure that one last jewel for his unique tennis crown. After that, Federer won just two titles on the slowest surface, in Madrid 2012 on the controversial blue clay and in Istanbul 2015, not playing ATP tournaments on dirt after Rome 2016 when he lost to Dominic Thiem in the third round.
After winning the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami in 2017, Roger decided to stay away from clay and make a long break in order to rest and prepare himself for the grass season, winning Halle and Wimbledon to continue his brilliant run just before turning 36. To make sure he chooses the best possible schedule at the late stage of his career, Roger revealed he will not compete on clay in 2018 as well after the second round loss to Thanasi Kokkinakis in Miami, taking a break from tennis and charging batteries for a solid grass swing that saw him winning title in Stuttgart and losing in the final of Halle and the quarter-final at Wimbledon where he wasted a match point against Kevin Anderson.
Clinching 48 wins and four ATP titles in 2018, Roger has managed to wrap up the year inside the top-three, extending his dominance as the oldest year-end top-three player since the ranking was established in 1973, looking for more of the same in 2019 despite his age. Roger could make one significant change, though, thinking about playing an ATP tournament on clay for the first time in three years! Federer had not played at Roland Garros since the quarter-final loss to Stan Wawrinka in 2015 and he may step on the Philippe Chatrier court again next May after testing his clay court skills in Barcelona and Rome!
Roger will make the final decision after Indian Wells and Miami but he may play at the fifth-strongest clay-court ATP tournament in Barcelona for the first time in 19 years, making a debut there in 2000 at the age of 18 and losing to Sergi Bruguera in straight sets. Federer never won the title in Rome, finishing runner-up in 2003, 2006, 2013 and 2015 and playing his last clay tournament there three years ago. It would be extremely interesting to see Roger Federer competing on clay again next season and we should find out his plans in some three months time, depending on his results at the 'Sunshine Double' at the beginning of the Masters 1000 season.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2T6BsW7
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