Roger Federer has surprised the tennis world after he accepted a wildcard to compete in Rotterdam next week in order to chase the world no.1 rank. The only guy that wasn’t caught off guard was Richard Krajicek, the tournament director, that revealed that Roger expressed his wish to play in the Netherlands just a few hours after winning the Australian Open.
Why the decision
Roger has always been careful about his body management, and he said that last year it was a mistake going back to competitions in Dubai after only 3 weeks he won the Australian Open because he wasn’t ready. But last year, Federer conquered the title in Melbourne after winning 3 tough 5-setters against Nishikori, Wawrinka, and Nadal while this year he won all matches in straight sets with the exception of the final and he had a free past in the semi after Chung retired after 1 hour.
Roger was fresh
Richard Krajicek revealed that “We had been talking for five days, but Federer first wanted to train for three days, and on Wednesday evening I would have contact with his manager (Tony Godsick).
In the evening I picked up a call from him and said: ‘Gosh, how did the training go?’ “He would approach him, and at a quarter past six, he said he would come.
He emailed me a few hours after the final of the Australian Open that Federer might want to play because he had a fairly easy tournament and came fresh from Australia.
Sometimes you have nice moments, and sometimes you have some disappointments, but as tournament director, this is a victory.”
Federer has won the title in Rotterdam in 2005 and 2012, and if he reaches the semifinal, he will be the oldest world no.1 in tennis history (36).
| A WALK IN THE PARK? |
| Embed from Getty Images |
