Roger Federer is currently competing at the Australian Open, and he is well aware that going deep in the tournament will put a lot of stress on his body. After last year’s triumphant title in Melbourne, Roger fell very early in Dubai at the hands of Evgeny Donskoy. Later Roger admitted that his body needed more time to recover even if that loss was dated the 1st of March (i.e., 1 month after his Australian Open final).
The world no.2 probably remembers that experience, and he has surprised for not being in the Dubai entry list. This year the Dubai Duty Free Championships has an extremely weak field with the following players in it.
Entry List
1 DIMITROV, Grigor BUL 3
2 POUILLE, Lucas FRA 18
3 BAUTISTA AGUT, Roberto ESP 21
4 KOHLSCHREIBER, Philipp GER 29
5 DZUMHUR, Damir BIH 30
6 GASQUET, Richard FRA 31
7 KRAJINOVIC, Filip SRB 36
8 SUGITA, Yuichi JPN 41
9 PAIRE, Benoit FRA 42
10 HAASE, Robin NED 43
11 LORENZI, Paolo ITA 44
12 CORIC, Borna CRO 46
13 KHACHANOV, Karen RUS 47
14 STRUFF, Jan-Lennard GER 55
15 ISTOMIN, Denis UZB 60
16 HAIDER-MAURER, Andreas AUT 63PR
17 TROICKI, Viktor SRB 65
18 NISHIOKA, Yoshihito JPN 66PR
19 MAYER, Florian GER 68
20 KUKUSHKIN, Mikhail KAZ 69
21 SOUSA, Joao POR 70
22 DONSKOY, Evgeny RUS 72
23 FABBIANO, Thomas ITA 73
Will Roger get a wildcard?
There are 4 wildcards to be assigned, and 4 players will access the main draw from the qualifications. Roger has won Dubai 7 times, and that is the place where he has elected his residence. He is still expected to compete.
| NOT CHASING NO.8? |
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