Speculation about Roger Federer retiring next year has been ended after the organisers of the Stuttgart Open confirmed that the 17-time Grand Slam champion will play in the tournament until 2017.
The Stuttgart Open, currently known as the Mercedes Open, has been held annually since 1976 and has been won by some of the biggest names in the sport. Previous winners of the tournament include Ivan Lendl, Andre Agassi, Goran Ivanisevic, Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer and Juan Martin Del Potro. In 2015 the tournament switched their surface from clay to grass. Next year the tournament will be held on June 6th, two weeks before Wimbledon.
Federer’s commitment means that he will play in the city for the first time since the 2001 Stuttgart Masters. The 2016 Mercedes Open will be just the third time that Federer has played in the Stuttgart in his entire career. Speaking about his two-year commitment to the event, the 34-year-old said that he was impressed with this year’s tournament.
“I watched the first [grass court] edition on television, it had a great atmosphere. I’ve always wanted to play Stuttgart, but it was always the wrong time after Wimbledon”. Federer said.
“Now that they’ve moved dates, the chance to play the Mercedes Cup is very exciting — I can’t wait.”
From 2016 onwards there will be an extra week between the French Open and Wimbledon to allow players more time to adapt to the surface. The decision to implement an extra week has been highly praised by Federer.
“It’s genius to have an extra week. It doesn’t sound like much, but for us players it’s a lot.” The 34-year-old said.
Federer ended his year with a loss to Novak Djokovic in the final of the ATP World Tour Finals. In 2015 the Swiss has won six titles and reached the finals at two Grand Slam tournaments (Wimbledon and the US Open).
