After growing speculation surrounding his intentions at the Madrid Open. Roger Federer has confirmed his withdrawal from the tournament due to a back problem.
Suspicions about the presence of the 34-year-old at the Caja Magica started to circulate after he missed a Sunday press conference as well as a scheduled practice with Taylor Fritz on Monday morning.
The world No.3 confirmed that he has hurt his back during a routine practice session on Saturday. The extend of the injury is no thought to be severe, however, Federer was doubtful that he would have been able to recover in time for his first match in Madrid on Wednesday.
“I arrived (in Madrid) and I was okay. Then on Saturday I hurt my back a little bit during practice and had to stop early,” Federer said at the Caja Magica.
“At this point I don’t want to take more chances as I know I’m not going to be fully ready for Wednesday,” he later added.
It is the fifth tournament that Federer has withdrawn from this year. Prior to Madrid, he has also withdrawn from Rotterdam, Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami due a combination of a knee injury as well as illness. The series of withdrawals have cast doubts on Federer’s French Open aspirations next month. Regardless of his doubters, the 2009 Roland Garros champion has played down the idea that the lack of match play could hinder his chances.
“I don’t always need a lot of matches to feel 100% ready,” the 34-year-old reassured the media.
“With my experience and the way I feel about big tournaments, if I have matches, great. If I don’t, I trust in my game, in my mind that I’ll be fine regardless of the preparation”.
The back injury is the latest woe to what has been a troublesome 2016 for the 34-year-old. The series of issues has dented the morale of the Federer camp, however, it takes a lot more to put Federer himself down.
“A little bit. Yeah, I guess so,” Federer responded when asked if his morale has been affected.
“I’m a little sad of course not to be playing here. At the same time, I’m still upbeat that the back issue is going to go away. I would rather have it being the back than the knee. So from that standpoint I see it as more positive than negative,” he optimistically added.
Since his run to the semifinals of the Australian Open, Federer has only participated in one tournament due to a knee injury and illness. In his comeback tournament at the Monte-Carlo Masters, the 17-time grand slam champion reached the quarterfinals before succumbing in three sets to France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
The next stop for Federer will be next week’s Rome Masters, a tournament that he has never won before. Labeling the tournament as his main goal, the Swiss is hoping to once again get his season back on track.
“The goal now is to play Rome and hopefully arrive there somewhat early so I have a good preparation, and, you know, that I can play hopefully a good tournament.” He stated.
So far this year Federer has played 13 matches in three tournaments. Out of his 13 encounters, the world No.3 has been triumphant in ten of them.
