Roger Federer has been playing fantastic tennis in 2019. The Swiss legend was defeated by a sensational Stefanos Tsitsipas in the 4th round of the Australian Open leaving the Maestro with “many regrets” probably for the fact that he was well aware that he had a shot at winning his 21st slam in Melbourne.

The good news for Roger’s fans is that he decided to compete again on clay after skipping the season for 2 consecutive years.

Why Federer will play on clay in 2019

The last time that Roger played on clay was back in 2016 in Rome. Later on, he decided to skip the Roland Garros because of a back problem, and he missed the dirt in 2017 and 2018 to focus on the short grass season and the North American swing.

Roger has always stated that not playing on clay was the right decision to spare his body, but he also acknowledged that the break was too long.

The Swiss announced that he wants to play the clay court season during the press conference following his loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas to say

“I’m in a phase where I want to have fun. It’s a bit of a desire. I don’t feel it is necessary to have a big break again.”

Probably this is the right decision as the Swiss looks to be in great form, and even if he always dismissed the issue, he will definitely try to chase Jimmy Connors’ 109 titles. Roger is now at 99 and playing a couple of “minor tournaments” may help.

Also, Federer needs the points on clay to keep his ranking that is projected to plummet to world no.6 after this Australian Open.