Federer 2013 Schedule: Roger won’t play Basel, Miami and Montecarlo

Roger is a master at playing tennis and a fine strategist when it comes to plan a season. A correct scheduling is essential for him especially now that he is not a teenager any more.

The Main Point

As Roger is 31, he played for 12 years over 600 matches he can choose and miss whatever 1000 ATP Master he wants.

“A player’s number of ATP World Tour Masters 1000 commitment tournaments shall be reduced by one (1) tournament for reaching each of the following milestones:
1) 600 matches* (as of 1 January of the commitment year);
2) 12 years of service;
3) 31 years of age (as of 1 January of the commitment year).

If all three (3) conditions are met then the player has a complete exemption from the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 player commitment.” says the rule.

The Schedule

His schedule is about single tournaments and it is not clear yet if he is going to play the Davis Cup. Given the circumstances and the dates this schedule looks very smart.

There are going 4 periods:


JANUARY – MARCH 

No build up tournament to play directly the Australian Open. If he won’t play the Davis Cup first round, he will rest for 2 weeks after the AO to play in Rotterdam. After resting another week there is Dubai. Then He will head to Indian Wells.

Roger will skip the Miami Sony Ericson Open that is back to back after Indian Wells. It seems to be the correct decision as he usually struggles in Miami and he wants to preserve his body. 

The big question mark is the Davis Cup. The first round was planned for the 28th of Jan (back to back the Australian Open). For this reason it is very difficult Roger will play it.

14-Jan   Melbourne – Australian Open 
11-Feb   Rotterdam –ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament 
25-Feb   Dubai – Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
  4-Mar   Indian Wells, BNP Paribas Open 


MAY – JUNE 

Roger will skip the first part of the clay court season so as not to play Montecarlo, and Barcelona (Rafa’s domains) to focus on the most important tournaments such as Madrid and Rome (back to back), to then go to Paris for the Roland Garros.

Not playing Montecarlo seems to be a smart choice as that tournament is just about Rafa Rafa and Rafa (he won 8th in a row) and playing Madrid is a good idea as it is the fastest clay court  tournament (indoor + altitude = good for Roger) 

  6-May   Madrid, Mutua Madrid Open
13-May   Rome Internazionali BNL d’Italia
27-May   Paris, Roland Garros
10-Jun    Halle, Gerry Weber Open
24-Jun    Wimbledon

After 1 week, he will head to Halle, a tournament that he committed for life and where a street has been dedicated after him . After Halle’s build up he will go to Wimbledon to defend his title


AUGUST – SEPTEMBER

After resting for 1 month, Roger will play both Canada and Cincinnati to rest one week and bid for his 6th US Open.

 5-Aug    Montreal, Rogers Cup
12-Aug   Cincinnati, Western & Southern Open
26-Aug   New York, US Open 


OCTOBER – NOVEMBER

Here we have the huge controversy. Roger left out Basel… hmmm… but unfortunately it makes sense. In fact, Shanghai has to be played (he can’t miss the entire Asian swing) and playing back to back Basel, Paris and the World Tour Finals is not very smart. Since Basel is the less important tournament and Paris is generally the “easiest” 1000 ATP Master to win… the decision was obvious.

But in Switzerland they are going to be quite upset especially after Federer had some disagreement about his participation fee.

The schedule can still be revised… tiem to put Basel on the Map? The Ball Boys would be happy to eat pizza with Roger once again!

07-Oct    Shanghai, Shanghai Rolex Masters
28-Oct    Paris, BNP Masters 
 4-Nov    London, Barclays ATP World Tour Finals (if he qualifies)  


The Complete Schedule

14-Jan   Melbourne – Australian Open 
11-Feb   Rotterdam –ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament 
25-Feb   Dubai – Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships
  4-Mar   Indian Wells, BNP Paribas Open

  6-May   Madrid, Mutua Madrid Open
13-May   Rome Internazionali BNL d’Italia
27-May   Paris, Roland Garros
10-Jun    Halle, Gerry Weber Open
24-Jun    Wimbledon

 5-Aug    Montreal, Rogers Cup
12-Aug   Cincinnati, Western & Southern Open
26-Aug   New York, US Open 

07-Oct    Shanghai, Shanghai Rolex Masters
28-Oct    Paris, BNP Masters 
 4-Nov    London, Barclays ATP World Tour Finals (if he qualifies)