French Open: Federer boosts Wimbledon chances by swerving Roland Garros test

Ralph Ellis
16 May 2017

Evergreen - Roger Federer has a plan to defy the years

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Roger Federer has announced he'll stay away from Roland Garros this year. Ralph Ellis says that makes him an even stronger contender on the grass courts of SW19.

"I suggested shortly after the Aussie Open that he would be worth backing for SW19 at 8.27/1, and this morning he’s 4.3100/30 joint favourite with Andy Murray to be this year’s Wimbledon winner".

I love Roger Federer's positive thinking. His overnight statement announcing he's pulled out of the French Open talks about playing on the ATP Tour "for many years to come".

Crikey. The guy is 35 already, for heaven's sakes, and his 36th birthday is rolling up in the next couple of months. Does he really think he'll go on into his forties?

The answer, clearly, is that yes he does and what's more he plans to go on winning titles for years to come as well, picking and choosing the events he plays to make sure his body can stand up to the rigours of competing in Grand Slams.

It's amazing to think that at the back end of last year, most thought he was finished. A six-month lay off with a knee injury had surely ended his time at the top.

Instead he not only emerged to win the 18th Grand Slam title of his career in Melbourne, but followed it with wins in Indian Wells and Miami. I suggested shortly after the Aussie Open that he would be worth backing for SW19 at 8.27/1, and this morning he's 4.3100/30 joint favourite with Andy Murray to be this year's Wimbledon winner.

Skipping the French Open is an obvious way to boost his chances. What could he possibly gain by slogging his body through a series of epic baseline rallies at Roland Garros? And especially when his old nemesis Rafael Nadal, who is now the 1.824/5 favourite, is on such form.

Federer's coach Severin Luthi has been insisting that Nadal's winning run so far this season - Madrid was his third consecutive title - didn't influence the decision. "It would be a mistake to look at other players too much," he has said.

But you can't blame the Swiss maestro for engineering the system to his own advantage - after all he's always been a player who behind the beaming smile isn't afraid to use the dark arts when he needs to.

A five minute time-out during that epic Melbourne final with Nadal was a good example - and I also vividly remember a Wimbledon pre-final press conference several years ago when he encouraged the match umpire to have a look at Nadal's penchant for slowing the game down under pressure.

It seems like for years we've been waiting for the next generation of stars to take over at the top of the game from Federer, Nadal, Murray and Novak Djokovic. But the old guard seem to go on finding new ways to stay at the top.

In Federer's case his switch to a new racquet that he designed himself, seven square inches bigger in surface area than his previous one, seems to have played a part.

He started using it in 2014 and has by his own admission needed lots of practice to trust it, but he now has the confidence to play his shots - especially that dazzling textbook backhand - and some of his performances not only in Australia but since then have been exquisite.

He's going to turn up now for the grass court season with total self belief. And as he's proved in the past, when Federer feels positive he wants an awful lot of beating.