Federer's Schedule for 2017

[El Dude]

OK, makes sense. I think it would mean that he'd probably play both Shanghai and Paris, but who knows. So that would bring him up to 14: the eight announced, plus Rome, US Open, Shanghai, Paris, Basel, and WTF.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

OK, makes sense. I think it would mean that he'd probably play both Shanghai and Paris, but who knows. So that would bring him up to 14: the eight announced, plus Rome, US Open, Shanghai, Paris, Basel, and WTF.

You missed Cincy which he will definitely play. That would make it 15 tourneys, just four short of the full schedule a typical player will play to get the maximum out of the countable tournaments (4 GS + 8 Mandatory Masters + 6 others + 1 WTF). The 15 tourneys will involve 21 weeks of play (as the 4 GS and the 2 NA masters are spread over two weeks).

In 2018, he would be skipping Stuttgart as by that time he would have finished his contract with them and the organizers would have been broke already. He would probably also skip Miami. So, that would make a 13 tourney schedule for 2018. In 2019, he will probably play just 11 tourneys ( 4 GS, 1 WTF and 5 warm up tourneys, one for each big event and Dubai) . Finally in 2020, he will play just 10 tourneys including Olympics (4 GS, 4 warmup for GS, Olympics and Basel) and then hang up his racquet after playing in Basel. Needless to say that we are looking too far ahead.

But, Fed had openly declared well before (not this year) that this is his general idea. He plans to play for long, but keep reducing the schedule gradually, sort of like phased retirement scheme that many companies provide to ease the transition from 40 hours of work per week to 0 hours of work per week for the employees.

 

[El Dude]

Whoops, of course he'll play Cincy.

I like your four-year plan. Hope he plays that long. I do think he'll re-assess on a year-to-year basis. We don't know how winning the AO will effect him. Maybe it gives him a jolt of adrenaline, but maybe it also satiates him and he decides he'd rather stay at home with he family.

 

[mightyjeditribble]

I think injury will determine how long he plays more than how much he wins - as long as he feels he can be competitive on the day (which will be a while yet I reckon). As much as I know he admires Agassi, I don't think he would go through what Andre did at the end of his time on the tour. But I think he loves the game more than he loves winning, so if he's healthy, why stop soon?

The other thing is family life. His daughters are of school age now. While he could afford to take a whole school full of teachers traveling with them, as a parent I can imagine worrying about the social impact of all the traveling and but being near friends. And if they stay at home more, the traveling may be less appealing to him.

Does anyone know what they do now?

 

[August]

Federer's official web page lists Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami as his schedule for the initial segment of the year. It appears that he will release his schedule for later parts only after these tourneys are over.

Given that the above schedule includes Miami, I believe he will probably skip the entire clay season except for the Rolland Garros.

Playing Miami indeed gives an impression he's not going to play a lot on clay. Though I wish he'd play Monte Carlo, and based on results there he'd make the decision on Madrid/Rome.

 

[Frode789]

I really hope he at least decides to play 1 clay Masters. For example Rome, where the court is the most similar to RG.

 

[mightyjeditribble]

OK, makes sense. I think it would mean that he'd probably play both Shanghai and Paris, but who knows. So that would bring him up to 14: the eight announced, plus Rome, US Open, Shanghai, Paris, Basel, and WTF.

You missed Cincy which he will definitely play. That would make it 15 tourneys, just four short of the full schedule a typical player will play to get the maximum out of the countable tournaments (4 GS + 8 Mandatory Masters + 6 others + 1 WTF). The 15 tourneys will involve 21 weeks of play (as the 4 GS and the 2 NA masters are spread over two weeks).

According to http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11791765 , Federer said the following:

My goal needs to be to stay healthy, so when I do go on court that, really, it's a highlight.

I know you can't make 25 tournaments a highlight, but you can make 15 a highlight, and really be well prepared for those and enjoy it in the process.

So your prediction of about 15 tournaments looks pretty good.

I can also imagine Roger skipping Shanghai or Paris though.

 

[Front242]

Basel is the closest surface to the WTF so it's probably enough to just play there.

 

[El Dude]

We've seen this before: A great player takes time off due to injury, and comes back revived. What we saw from Federer at the AO was, in my opinion, the best he's played since at least 2012. Better than 2014 or 2015. He was less shank-prone, his forehand and backhand both were devastating, his serving was great, and his movement good.

So now it is about pacing and, as he said, staying healthy. Whether he's ranked #2 or #4 doesn't matter, but whether he's ranked in the top 4 or top 8 does, so that has to be taken into account (if not, then he might be tempted to just play Slams, the WTF, and the prep tournaments and not worry about the Masters).

So thinking that way, it makes sense or him to skip Monte Carlo and Madrid, but he's going to want some clay preparation for RG. Another thought would be one of those ATP 250s - what about Geneva? There's no gap between that and RG, but it might be a good way to prepare.

Here's the May schedule:
May 1: Estoril, Istanbul, Munich (all ATP 250)
May 8: Madrid (Masters)
May 15: Rome (Masters)
May 22: Geneva, Lyon (ATP 250)
May 29: Roland Garros

So I guess Rome really does make the most sense, in terms of timing: it is close enough to RG so that playing a few matches there will be a good warm-up, but not too close that he might be tired to start the Slam.

It is also worth considering that there's a huge gap between Miami (March 20-27) and Roland Garros (May 29) - that's two months of entirely clay tournaments. He's probably going to want to play something in that two month period, maybe one in April and one as prep for RG in May. Maybe Monte Carlo (April 17) does make sense?

 

[GameSetAndMath]

No way he will play in Geneva, due to following reasons.

1. It is in the week before RG.
2. He is not likely to get huge appearance fee to play there as folks there have seen him before.
3. If he plays there that is five consecutive weeks of play, Geneva, RG, Stuttgart and Halle.

He will either play Rome and RG or else just RG. That is it for clay.

If he decides to drop out of Miami at the last minute, then he might play in MC instead.

But, Roger generally likes long breaks in his schedule as opposed to his breaks being split two weeks here and two weeks there. If he stops after Miami and then plays only in Rome, he will get exactly six weeks of break. That is the right kind for him at this stage, especially considering he will have a heavy schedule from then until Wimby.

 

[Front242]

^

 

[El Dude]

OK, I like it. So let's gather it all together into a hypothetical schedule:

(Hopman Cup)
1. AUSTRALIAN OPEN
4 weeks off
2. Dubai 500
3. Indian Wells Masters
4. Miami Masters
6 weeks off
5. Rome Masters
1 week off
6. ROLAND GARROS
7. Stuttgart Open 250
8. Halle 500
1 week off
9. WIMBLEDON
4 weeks off
10. Cincinnati Masters
1 week off
11. US OPEN
4 weeks off
12. Shanghai Masters
1 week off
13. Basel 500
14. Paris Masters
1 week off
15. World Tour Finals

A couple variants are possible.

For one, he could do what GameSetandMath said above - skip Miami and then play Monte Carlo. I suppose it depends upon how much he played at Dubai and IW. If he wins both, or even just IW, I have a hard time imagining him saddling up immediately for Miami.

Two, I think he might take Paris off. He's definitely playing Basel, but that is a bit of a brutal stretch of Shanghai, Basel, Paris, WTF, with only a week off twice in-between.

Either way I think he'll play 14-15 tournaments.

 

[mrzz]

I guess that if he starts winning more than occasionally, he might well end up with a full schedule again. But I agree that a good showing in Dubai/IW may tempt him to skip Miami.

 

[Puppet Master]

OK, I like it. So let's gather it all together into a hypothetical schedule:

(Hopman Cup)
1. AUSTRALIAN OPEN
4 weeks off
2. Dubai 500
3. Indian Wells Masters
4. Miami Masters
6 weeks off
5. Rome Masters
1 week off
6. ROLAND GARROS
7. Stuttgart Open 250
8. Halle 500
1 week off
9. WIMBLEDON
4 weeks off
10. Cincinnati Masters
1 week off
11. US OPEN
4 weeks off
12. Shanghai Masters
1 week off
13. Basel 500
14. Paris Masters
1 week off
15. World Tour Finals

A couple variants are possible.

For one, he could do what GameSetandMath said above - skip Miami and then play Monte Carlo. I suppose it depends upon how much he played at Dubai and IW. If he wins both, or even just IW, I have a hard time imagining him saddling up immediately for Miami.

Two, I think he might take Paris off. He's definitely playing Basel, but that is a bit of a brutal stretch of Shanghai, Basel, Paris, WTF, with only a week off twice in-between.

Either way I think he'll play 14-15 tournaments.

I agree with most of it, but playing the Stuttgart open is Thiem-esque. Not enough breaks for the deathless one.
But it can't be helped since he is already signed up for both Stuttgart and Halle.
I just really, really, really hope he gives this a good hard thought as it could come back to haunt him.
His fans will be forced to root against him in the early rounds of RG and I don't want to root for someone like Cuevas. :laydownlaughing

 

[mightyjeditribble]

He could also skip Shanghai. It's a long way to travel for one week of tennis.

With respect to Stuttgart - I'm guessing he is not expecting a deep run at RG. If he does make one, say at least SF, perhaps he might end up pulling out of Stuttgart with exhaustion? He wouldn't have to play before the Wednesday, so even if he lost in the QF, he'd still have a week to make the transition to grass.

 

[Front242]

Grass isn't a taxing surface on the body. Lots of quick cheap points with serve and winners are easier to hit so it won't really be taking too much out of him imo.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Planning to go to Indian Wells to see Fed and Djoke. Anyone have a guess which days they will play?

Typically the first weekend is when the big guns play..Friday and Saturday

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I think Roger signed two year deal with Hopman Cup folks and was getting some appearance fee. After that contract is over, expect him to make a gentle move to Kooyong Classic for two years with another contract for a hefty appearance fee.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Good job by Swiss Fellas. They lost big time to Americans. This would mean there would not be any pressure on Fed to play in davis cup until all the GSs are over. After the USO, Fed might be summoned to play in the world group play offs to ensure that Swiss stays in the world group.

Fed does not care about another DC title at this stage. However, he would want to play in Olympics 2020. In order to do so he needs to play in some number of DC ties ( I believe at least one in each year).

My guess is Fed would oblige if it turns out to be home tie (or in some European country) and say no otherwise.

 

[Fiero425]

I think Roger signed two year deal with Hopman Cup folks and was getting some appearance fee. After that contract is over, expect him to make a gentle move to Kooyong Classic for two years with another contract for a hefty appearance fee.

It's just never enough! :nono :cover