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ROGER FEDERER

Beaten in Basel, Federer skips Paris

Roger Federer on Sunday withdrew from next week's Paris Masters after suffering a 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/3) final loss to Juan Martin del Potro at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.

Published: 29 October 2012 07:07 CET

Beaten in Basel, Federer skips Paris

Photo: Vinod Divakaran

The world number one revealed his late decision to skip the event he won a year ago during a sweep of the last three events of the 2011 season.

Federer, 31, said he felt he needed to let a few niggles heal to be fully fit for the start of the World Tour Finals in London a week from Monday.

The upset victory by Argentine Del Potro denied Federer a sixth title from the last seven editions at the St Jakobshalle and kept him from the 77th of his career.

"I'm not going to Paris, it's too much for me," Federer said.

"I've already told (tournament director) Guy Forget. I have some niggling stuff that I want to heal, I don't want to take a chance for London.

"Missing Paris is disappointing. I remember how great it was to win the title a year ago. I had one of the best weeks of my life there in 2011."

With old rival Rafael Nadal also missing after ending his campaign early due to the knee injury which has kept him off court since June, the Paris field will now be led by second seed Novak Djokovic and US Open winner Andy Murray.

Djokovic beat Murray for the Shanghai title this month, with neither man playing since.

Murray withdrew from the Swiss Indoors in Basel, claiming a back niggle, to the dismay of organizers faced with his second pullout in as many years.

Federer's place in the draw for the Paris Masters has been taken by Romanian lucky loser Victor Hanescu.

With all 16 seeds getting first-round byes, lesser contenders will begin play, with French players Benoit Paire, Paul-Henri Mathieu — both defeated by Federer in Basel — and Michael Llodra receiving wildcards.

Spain's David Ferrer, who clinched a third Valencia Open on Sunday, takes the third seeding ahead of Tomas Berdych.

Also in the field is fellow World Tour Finals qualifier del Potro.

Two places in the London field remain up for grabs with France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Serb Janko Tipsarevic, Spaniard Nicolas Almagro and France's Richard Gasquet all in contention.

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Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?

Is it the end of the line for Roger? Photo: Martin BUREAU / AFP

The 20-time Grand Slam winner announced on Wednesday that he would be sidelined until 2021 after his second operation in a matter of months.

Federer remains upbeat, tweeting: “I plan to take the necessary time to be 100 percent ready to play at my highest level.”

In some ways 2020 is a good season to miss after the coronavirus ravaged the tennis schedule. Writing Federer off in the past has proved dangerous.

He returned from a six-month injury lay-off to claim the Australian Open in 2017, winning his eighth Wimbledon crown later that year.

But he will be 40 in 2021 and is now heading into uncharted territory.

Despite his groaning trophy cabinet, there are two factors that will motivate Federer to keep going — the risk of losing his grip on the men's Grand Slam title record and a missing Olympics singles gold medal.

Rafael Nadal has 19 majors, just one shy of Federer's mark and Djokovic has 17.

Spain's Nadal will be fancied to draw level with Federer at the French Open, rescheduled for September, while few would bet against Djokovic winning in New York weeks earlier.

In April, Federer said he was “devastated” when Wimbledon was cancelled for the first time since World War II. Last year he fell agonisingly short at the All England Club, failing to convert two championship points on his own serve against Djokovic.

The Wimbledon grass probably remains his best chance of adding to his Grand Slam collection — he has not won the US Open since 2008 and his only title at Roland Garros came in 2009.

Even though Federer has slipped from the very pinnacle of the game, he is still a major threat to Nadal and Djokovic.

'Golden' ambitions

Last year, the world number four had a 53-10 win-loss record and he reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January in his only tournament this year.

Federer, who is still six ATP titles short of Jimmy Connors' all-time record of 109, has one glaring omission from his CV — the Olympic title.

The Swiss won doubles gold in Beijing in 2008 with compatriot Stan Wawrinka but lost in the singles final to Andy Murray in London four years later.

The postponed Tokyo Games will almost certainly be Federer's last opportunity to complete a career “golden” Grand Slam — he will turn 40 on the day of the closing ceremony next year.

Tennis will feel the loss of the elegant Federer keenly when he walks off the court for the last time.

Djokovic and Nadal have been the dominant forces in recent years but the Swiss remains the biggest draw and last month topped Forbes' list of the world's highest-earning athletes.

His last appearance on court was in front of nearly 52,000 fans — touted by organisers as a world record for tennis — at a charity match against Nadal in Cape Town in February.

Federer is nearly always the crowd favourite wherever he plays and has proved a perfect ambassador for the sport since he won his first Grand Slam title in 2003.

He certainly expects to be back and competitive next year.

“I will be missing my fans and the tour dearly but I will look forward to seeing everyone back on tour at the start of the 2021 season,” he tweeted.

The avalanche of support from his adoring fans showed they would miss him too, but they will have to get used to a time when he is gone for good.

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