Roger Federer announced his withdrawal from the French Open on Thursday, citing a lingering back problem. Federer had previously pulled out of the Madrid Masters and was limited in Rome, where he lost to Dominic Thiem in the third round.
Although the development is not entirely unexpected, it is particularly news-worthy. For one, this marks the first time Federer will miss a Grand Slam since the 1999 U.S. Open. It also means Rafael Nadal moves up from the fifth seed to No. 4, ensuring that the nine-time Roland Garros champion cannot meet Novak Djokovic until at least the semifinals.
“I regret to announce that I have made the decision not to play in this year’s French Open,” Federer posted on Facebook. “I have been making steady progress with my overall fitness, but I am still not 100% and feel I might be taking an unnecessary risk by playing in this event before I am really ready. This decision was not easy to make, but I took it to ensure I could play the remainder of the season and help to extend the rest of my career.
“I remain as motivated and excited as ever and my plan is to achieve the highest level of fitness before returning to the ATP World Tour for the upcoming grass court season. I am sorry for my fans in Paris but I very much look forward to returning to Roland Garros in 2017.”
Beneficiaries of the 34-year-old Swiss’ exit are Nadal, Milos Raonic (up to No. 8), David Goffin (up to No. 12), John Isner (up to No. 16), Jack Sock (up to No. 24), and Federico Delbonis (now seeded at No. 32).
[polldaddy poll=9418265]
bad news for tennis, good news for Nadal
FINALLYYY
Ricky, why is it bad news for tennis that Rafa is seeded 4th?
He means Fed’s withdrawal is bad news!!
#TweedleDum
For those who love tennis Fed’s withdrawal would not be a good thing,
nny gets it.
Well said!
@ Ricky,
I would think quite the opposite! This is good for tennis because Fed will recover completely and remain on tour! As Fed stated he would not take unnecessary risks because he wanted to ensure his participation in the remainder of the season and extending further his brilliant career! Fed playing with unhealed injury would be disastrous for both his career and his body! At his age he has to be smart in scheduling and wise enough to listen to his body!
Fed is a wise man! I wish him full recovery and strong showing in the upcoming grass season!
Roger being injured is bad for tennis.
Hawkeye,
Thank you!
Get well soon Fed!
Yes, Rafa being injured is bad for tennis! Delpo being sidelined with injury is bad for tennis! But you know what, that’s part of sport! And they fight hard tio come back strong! That’s crucial part of being an athlete! Fed was lucky to be healthy whole his life and getting injured at 35 is natural and expected thing! Being injured at 22 is sad!
Fed coming back strong is all that matters!
Natashao (AT 6:50 AM),
—Fed was lucky to be healthy whole his life—
===
.
Fed has had back problems for a long time. In 2003, he was deemed unfit for military service due to his long-standing back problem. He has withdrawn from multiple tournaments (except GS) because of that.
From Tiggy, heres what Rafa looked like the last time Roger missed a slam. Respect.
The wrench has been removed and Rafa has his rightful place as head of his own quarter. Still Nole shouldn’t have to face Raf before the finals.
With Fed out, should be a fair draw and French fans should be more respectful to Rafa. They are not fans of Nole (until after he loses).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwGrdRT4QPE
As for French fans, an interview THIS year:
Sport 24, March 14, 2016: ¤¤ Accusations de dopage: «Nadal en a ras-le-bol donc maintenant c’est fini» (In French)
http://sport24.lefigaro.fr/le-scan-sport/2016/03/14/27001-20160314ARTFIG00027-accusations-de-dopage-nadal-en-a-ras-le-bol-donc-maintenant-c-est-fini.php
(An excerpt, Google translation)
Question:”What is your opinion on the relationship between ‘Rafa’ and France?”
Benito Perez Barbadillo (Rafa’s PR manager): “Rafa says he is very respected and LOVED in France. Although, yes there were comments, especially in the media, in fact, including Yannick Noah, about Spanish sport. But we [the Rafa team] LOVE France! Rafa and Toni say that it’s all very surprising because they are ADORED in France. Every time we [the Rafa team] come it’s extraordinary. For Rafa France is like his SECOND HOME! ¤¤
If you include the two slam qualifications, Fed has never missed a slam since he turned professional in 1998.
That’s insane.
AT 4:39 PM
As for Tiggy, it’s yet another his imagination.
I wonder what will be Mr.Tiggy’s next imagination. 🙄
https://twitter.com/SteveTignor/status/733334995847286784
Love that old video, hawk! Makes me sad for Gasquet a little.
Happy Federer didn’t try to play with an injured back at this point.
It’s the best thing all around, condsidering…
ratcliff (AT 5:01 PM),
Makes you sad for Gasquet??? Gasquet defeated Rafa 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.
augusta, not many people would remember that Gasquet beat Rafa back then. Both talented. Rafa’s career took off, Gasquet’s is a bit of a disappointment, imo.
rc,
I understood exactly what you meant. Their careers have gone in completely different directions since then!
I got it! 🙂
Nny gets it!
Hey, btw, if you are interested, I think a very fine person from Tennis-X, with the moniker of RZ, is going to do a bracket challenge for FO. Would love anyone here interested to feel welcome and I’ll post a link somewhere where people will see it on Tenngrand.
This FO feels like it will be exciting. The competition at the top is scintillating.
ratcliff ( AT 6:15 & 6:46 PM),
I’m a Rafan.
You’d have to be tweedle-______ not to get that.
Yes rc but still sad for tennis.
Yes, I agree with both rc and hawkeye.
not sure if hawk being cereal.
#CornFlakes
That picture of the boy Rafa the last time Fed missed a slam tells a story. People usually align Roger and Rafa together as the same generation but there is actually 5 years between them in age.
Rafa was a child prodigy able to dominate a much older Federer from the start, when Mooray and Nole where still playing with big racquets specially for children learning to hit a ball. Rafa is the same generation as Mooray and Nole being only 1 year older.
Without Rafa’s recurrent injury issues he would be miles ahead of all three of them by now.
Thank you, nadline!
So unfortunate for our boy to suffer from injuries whole his life! He could have achieved so much more…and we Rafa fans had to live through it hoping for him to come back strong…
What I was trying to say is how lucky Fed was not to be injury prone. And still playing at the age of 35 is huge! I wish Rafa would be able to do it, but it’s highly unlikely!
Now I read posts from some here acting surprised Fed got injured at the age of 35) I wonder how many of them ever expected Fed to play at high level at this age…
I think Nole is as much a beneficiary as Rafa. I don’t believe either of them would like to meet each other in the QF.
massive news and it’s good for rafa not to have the possibility of facing nole in the quarters.
still more worried about the early rounds than anything else.
hope fed recovers for wimby.
Never really thought of a Grand Slam without Roger in it.
But sadly, the age factor seems to be catching up with his recovery process too.
Hard luck Roger! Hope you are able to reclaim your full fitness before Wimbledon!
Maybe now some people will finally stop whining and questioning Fed’s sportsmanship.
I guess that might get them to sleep better at night, finally. The premature whining ala Nadal was hilarious. :p
Someone is obsessed with Rafa and his fans.
#11-23HurtsLikeABiotch
No Roger!!?? I hope he recovers for Olympics and Wimbledon at least. He needs to rest up and really get healthy again and rejuvenate his game for grass season. I hope he can play Halle and then hopefully win that and have some good momentum. Roger hasn’t even missed a slam while I’ve been alive lol. His active slam streak started before I was even born so this completely unknown to me lol. It’s gonna feel weird with Roger not there. There is one good thing for me regarding predictions though. No bias lol.
Benny G (AT 5:58 PM),
Fed is in the list of players of the Stuttgart tournament (June 06 – 12).
Awesome
Hope Roger is fully recovered in time for Wimbledon.
Me too
I said it the other day. He doesn’t need to pull cheap stunts like Nadal. :p
In all seriousness, wishing him a speedy recovery. Just want to see him healthy now. The rest will fall in place if it has to.
https://tenngrand.com/2016/05/19/federer-withdraws-french-open-nadal-seeded-fourth/comment-page-1/#comment-115195
#Reusable
It was well in line with the nonsense I saw yesterday.
Really? Cheap stunts? That comment was not necessary.
Fedfan is a cheap stunt.
I know you don’t get moderated on here, but you might want to not lose your marbles there. You know, like you did yesterday at the prospect of Dull meeting Novak.