” I like to play tennis. ” Even at midnight well past, even almost forty years old, even at the end of 1 519e game of his career, Roger Federer remains the kid who started kicking the little yellow ball more than three decades ago. If he had won, on the night of Saturday 5 to Sunday 6 June, his long fight against the German Dominik Koepfer (7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 7-5), in the third round of Roland -Garros, the Swiss player withdrew after a few hours of sleep. Too short. Not long ago returned from his knee injury.
“After talking to my team, I decided that I should withdraw from the Roland-Garros tournament today, he wrote on Sunday in a press release broadcast by the Parisian tournament. After two knee operations and more than a year of rehabilitation, it is important that I listen to my body and that I do not go too quickly in the return to competition. “ For the first time in 80 appearances in a Grand Slam tournament, Roger Federer gives up along the way.
This premiere is not, strictly speaking, a surprise. The former boss of the world circuit – still no 8th in the world despite thirteen months away from the tournaments, thanks to the freezing of the standings – has never hidden that the Porte d’Auteuil tournament was only a step in its return program. “The goal is not Roland-Garros, it’s the grass season and Wimbledon, so I still have time”, he insisted in Geneva, after the third game of his season, lost to the Spaniard Pablo Andujar. The only one, then, on ocher. Until these three tours in Paris.
After his success against Koepfer, Roger Federer had paved the way. “The question is: why take a risk that I don’t have to take? I must remember it to myself: why am I here? What is the objective of the season? This is not the title at Roland Garros ”, had exposed the Swiss at a press conference.
A departure, on its own terms
From the start of his career, Roger Federer has based his longevity on selective programming. As the twilight of his career approached, he learned to lighten his schedule even further, making “Less is more” (“Less is more”) his watchword. From physical preparation to tournaments scrupulously selected according to his state of form, or his feelings; the player has set up an organization allowing him to remain competitive.
Left to ignore, as was the case in 2019 at the tournament in Rome the day after a round of 16 won against the Croatian Borna Coric in two and a half hours. His press release at the time is reminiscent of the one released on Sunday. His presence in the Wimbledon final, two months later, had only proved him right: he was sorry to have listened to his body.
Even determined to spare himself, Roger Federer remains a champion. And his match on Saturday night illustrates the player’s desire to continue making the rules. Pushed to its limits by Dominik Koepfer, the Balois explained after the meeting “Not to be very sure what [lui] remained in the tank after the second set ”. But rather than throw in the towel, he ended up putting down the insolent German. A night of reflection later, he decided to “Leave the tournament”, on its own terms.
For any player other than “king” Federer, the decision to approach one of the four biggest tournaments of the season as a place to work on his ranges would provoke controversy. Can we withdraw “By prevention” in a Grand Slam tournament? Roger Federer should be spared by critics, given his career, and Matteo Berrettini go into the quarterfinals without a hitch. Evidenced by the press release from Roland Garros accommodating the decision, as sweet as that concerning Naomi Osaka was salty. “The Roland-Garros tournament is sorry for the withdrawal of Roger Federer, who delivered a magnificent fight last night. We were all delighted with his return to Paris, where he played three high-level matches ”, wrote the boss of Roland-Garros, Guy Forget.
In the early morning, Sunday, in the empty immensity of the Philippe-Chatrier court, Roger Federer insisted on playing extra time at the microphone of Marion Bartoli. “We’ve been playing for three and a half hours, so I can still answer more than one question”, blew the winner of 20 Grand Slam tournaments. Before recalling his love of tennis. At almost 40 years old, and back at Porte d’Auteuil after two years, no one knows if the Swiss did not play, in the cold of the “night session” behind closed doors, his last meeting at Roland Garros.