Roger Federer surprisingly plans to compete at the French Open

One of the most fascinating storylines in tennis today continues to be whether or not the great Roger Federer will participate at particular tournaments. Obviously, he makes a strong attempt each and every year to be at Wimbledon. However, after that, Federer’s schedule when it comes to participating in tennis tournaments is a mystery, to say the least.

The fact that Federer plans to play the French Open is downright stunning and shocking. The reasoning does not have to do with Federer’s performances over the years on clay. It is the fact that Federer feels the most comfortable on grass, and the grass season is immediately after the dirt season.

No one would blame Federer if he gave the tournaments in Spain, Italy and France a miss. However, on Sunday, Federer announced his plans to play the French Open this year at age 39, in addition to the Geneva Open in his native Switzerland, as a clay-court tuneup, leading up to the second major of the 2021 tennis season, according to the Associated Press. 

The last time fans saw Federer was in Doha in March, where he reached the quarterfinals, before losing to Nikoloz Bashilashvili of Georgia, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5. Following the loss, Federer announced his plans of returning to training.

Interestingly, Federer has never won the Geneva Open. The event was initially part of the ATP Tour from 1980 to 1991, and then returned in 2015 after more than two decades as a challenger tournament. When it returned, it was another Swiss tennis star in Stanislas Wawrinka who won the Geneva Open in 2016 and 2017.

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Federer has won the French Open once before. In 2009, he beat Robin Soderling of Sweden in the final, 6-1, 7-6, 6-4. He also has reached the French Open final four times, but each time lost to the great Rafael Nadal.

The fact that Federer will have played in only two ATP 250 events in 2021 prior to the French Open might hurt his world ranking. There is a chance Federer could be outside the top 10 when the French Open starts in late May.

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