Roger Federer Releases Clay-Reduced 2016 Schedule

Resting up before a hectic summer maybe? He is planning to play in all 3 events at the Olympics. Surprised to see Rotterdam and especially Stuttgart on his schedule. Wonder if Brisbane could affect the #2 ranking?

December 17th, 2015 at 4:01 pm

If Federer wants to beat Nole in the Olympics it will need to be in a best of 3 set match which would be in the Semi-finals. With this schedule, he has almost assured himself to not be in the top 2, unless Andy gets injured our has a complete breakdown in his game. Andy Will play Miami as well as Indian Wells and will play in at least 1 of the clay masters 1000 events.

December 17th, 2015 at 4:12 pm

Even by skipping four masters (Miami, MC, Madrid, Rome) he will be playing 16 tournaments, same as Nole this year. So Roger gave priority to lesser tournaments?

December 17th, 2015 at 4:14 pm

If this schedule is what he ends up playing, he will be skipping 4 masters 1000 in a row. No way he can Challenge for the top 2 and might even be out of the top 3. Doesn’t seem like Roger is going for the ranking anymore. The gold and Slams that he is good in (Wimbledon and U.S. Open.

December 17th, 2015 at 4:55 pm

“Resting up before a hectic summer maybe?”

RZ,
I am no expert about scheduling and I guess Roger knows his limits, but he crammed eight tournaments in the space of just little bit over three months and five of them prior Olympic Games, he will be basically playing week in week out, I really don’t know if those two months without competitive tennis will help him ?
I had to make one correction in my previous post, Nole played 16 tournaments including WTF this year, Roger will have 17 if he plays WTF next year.

December 17th, 2015 at 5:46 pm

It is what it is. He as always been efficient with his scheduling. Rio is a priority, Olympics comes only once every four years. Clay is a grinders paradise.
Now…..Am sure elina/Lodhi/Hawknose will bring the backstab comment next.
Here it comes…..

December 17th, 2015 at 5:51 pm

I think Nole should skip Toronto and cincy, wogboy

December 17th, 2015 at 5:55 pm

@Wog Boy – that crammed summer schedule is exactly why he’d need so much time off during the spring, to not get exhausted by so many activity on hard courts in such a short period of time. But he probably would be rusty upon his return in Toronto.

December 17th, 2015 at 5:55 pm

@wog boy….
He must be scheduling more free time for more kids ;)

December 17th, 2015 at 5:55 pm

@django,
I am with you on that one, and hopefully he won’t play more DC matches apart of the first one.

@RZ,
The time will tell how beneficiary those two months will be for his HC season plus FO.

@skeezer,
Haven’t thought about that, yes, more time for the kids and maybe there is more on the way, you never know:)

December 17th, 2015 at 6:03 pm

Interesting schedule. He basically said goodbye for good to Rome and MC. He had to prioritize and if he hasn’t won this tourneys before he ain’t doing into, specially after 2014 chance he git versus Wawa in MC.

Glad he add 1 more grass, he has to focus on his forte. Heard the news here that Olympics courts are pretty fast.

December 17th, 2015 at 8:04 pm

MC and Roma are the 2 Fed hasn’t one and no one except his extreme fans believed he had a shot at winning with Stan, Rafa, Nole, and I think Murray – all better on clay.
He’s going to lose some points with his strategy. Looks like he has conceded he cannot play enough events and successfully, to lead in ATP points ever again.
Not a big deal. He is prioritizing. Making other Slam or WTC Finals, even winning one…or taking an OLympic medal…that’s a good year!

Looking forward to seeing the other guy’s schedules.

Fed is making a big gamble going into the French with no clay match experience, then stacking up grass events to maybe get him another crack at a title, and Toronto/OLympics/USO all coming close on the heels of Wimbledon.

December 17th, 2015 at 9:32 pm

i wonder if fed will stick to this schedule going forward or if this is just a 2016-Olympic year thing. part of me does wonder how much longer he’ll play, like if he’ll stick around like connors / martina did until he’s 40, or if he’ll retire sooner. i wonder if he wins another slam if that’ll make him retire on a high or if it’ll inspire him to go for more?

django interesting idea re: novak’s schedule, about skipping the late summer hard court masters events. i am not opposed to that for 2016, although i do wish novak could win cincy some day. :)

December 18th, 2015 at 1:30 am

I think Novak should skip Aussie Open play the French Open and skip Wimby and USO…….just saying…. ;)

December 18th, 2015 at 1:46 am

RZ – re. your comment on No. 2 ranking. Assumed you were thinking Roger and Andy???. Brisbane alone would not alter the current ranking position (Andy 8945 and Roger 8265). Looks like Andy will still be No.2 no matter what Roger does early 2016.

December 18th, 2015 at 3:36 am

I think joker should miss the whole 2016 season. :)
Regarding fed, is it wise to skip all the CC tourneys? He obviously feels he doesn’t need any CC practice before the FO!! Bad decision IMO .
Whatever.

December 18th, 2015 at 4:05 am

Sensible scheduling IMO others are better than him on clay now,but so what?,he did what he really wanted which was to win the FO in 2009,so it doesnt seem a priority anymore,same with the ranking,he seems to be aiming to peak for the other GS and the Olympics now,i hope as a fan of Rafas he will also ease up a bit….

December 18th, 2015 at 4:37 am

@J-Kath, thanks. Didn’t look up the points differntial. I also think Andy’s DC points will get added on Jan. 1.

December 18th, 2015 at 10:44 am

@Giles – it’s not that he doesn’t think he nees to practice for F.O. It’s that the F.O. is clearly not a priority for him in 2016.

December 18th, 2015 at 10:55 am

the secret reason is this is his last season. he wants to ride off still with a high ranking and after the olympics, where he has one last chance at singles gold, he has nothing major to play for. he recognises djoker now has his number over 5 on every surface and his slam chances will further diminish as nadal comes back into form. he’ll want to go out on his own terms.

December 18th, 2015 at 10:59 am

https://twitter.com/dimonator/status/677724253039419392

December 18th, 2015 at 11:40 am

For all those who think that the big events (slams & Olympics) aren’t what it’s all about, just have a look at Roger’s schedule. It’s clear that the No.1 ranking is less important than winning a big event. He clearly doesn’t care how many Masters 1000 events he wins as he’s blown away four of those.

He does have to play some events other than the slams and the Olympics to stay sharp but it’s clear that these two are now a top priority over any M1000 or anything else for that matter. He’s avoiding pretty much every red clay warm-up but will still play the French which is probably the major he has the smallest chance of winning. But…he’s still going to give it a go because it’s a slam.

December 18th, 2015 at 12:50 pm

The majors are what the top guys play for. It’s their playground. Getting the other stuff (week at No.1, MC1000 titles, etc.) is incidental because if you’re good enough to win majors, the other stuff will likely come.

December 18th, 2015 at 12:53 pm

i’d agree overall sg1; however, fed was *very* concerned about #1 for a long time until he surpassed pete’s record. now that he’s done that perhaps it matters less. but for a long time being #1, setting records at #1, did matter to roger. he used to say something along the lines of “only one ranking matters”, i.e., #1.

December 18th, 2015 at 2:52 pm

re: 10:59 Must be the Holidays……this is the only singular time I think I agree with roy.

December 18th, 2015 at 7:56 pm

+1
Best post I’ve ever read from roy, skeezer.

December 18th, 2015 at 8:20 pm

skeezer Says:
@wog boy….
He must be scheduling more free time for more kids ;)
December 17th, 2015 at 5:55 pm

Maybe Mirka is competing with Angelina Jolie

December 19th, 2015 at 2:05 am

“i’d agree overall sg1; however, fed was *very* concerned about #1 for a long time until he surpassed pete’s record. now that he’s done that perhaps it matters less. but for a long time being #1, setting records at #1, did matter to roger. he used to say something along the lines of “only one ranking matters”, i.e., #1.”

jane, agree, it looks like some people have memory lapses, this time last year we had Roger fans frantically calculating how many points Roger needs to overtake Nole and finish the year as #1. Nole killed that conversation by beating Nishikori, methinks, at last year WTF, and all fuss, that started with Roger winning Shanghai last year, finished with a wimp. Now they are coming back with the theory that nothing else but GS matters! Give me a break please, if anybody ever gets close to #17 they will come back with argument that only Edberg awards matter;)

December 19th, 2015 at 6:12 am

I have to disagree with jalep and Skeezer, lot of Roy’s posts in the past made sense even I personally didn’t like some of them..of course the problem was they were not really praising the GOAT..

December 19th, 2015 at 6:19 am

Oy you down under, nobody is gonna get close to #17. You joker fans can but dream.
Next!

December 19th, 2015 at 6:36 am

Without going into GOAT territory too much,personally ive always got irritated with the misconception that because some fans dont care about the topic,and actually prefer the idea of a number of all time greats instead,then they must be jealous or Anti Fed,im not i just prefer as i say the idea that we have a number of all times greats instead,yet the idea gets lost on some people,others like a GOAT thats their perogative….

December 19th, 2015 at 6:50 am

‘lot of Roy’s posts in the past made sense…’

I think he’s hilarious…
Pity he’s a bigot though….

December 19th, 2015 at 8:25 am

As for Fed leaving next year…..

No, he will leave only if he drops out of the top 4 and stops making slam finals or semi-finals
Until then, he will always think he has a chance for an even better legacy.
Of course, this sequence of events could start to occur quite quickly now but the depth that was in the tour even only 2/3 years ago is dissipating.
Berdych, Del Potro, Tsonga, Soderling and quite a few others made this one of the strongest tours beyond the top 4 for a long time, but now they are either injured or a shadow, Nadal is certainly the latter, Murray has not quite come back (so far for both anyway 2016 however could be the tipping point). And the newer players bar Nishi have so far disappointed. And he is pretty brittle also. If someone nevertheless shocks & takes outs Novak, Fed will always fancy his chances for one last sssssllllllaaaammmm.
He won’t retire just yet, he will have to e shown the door.

December 19th, 2015 at 8:35 am

ive always got irritated with the misconception that because some fans dont care about the topic,and actually prefer the idea of a number of all time greats instead,then they must be jealous or Anti Fed,im not i just prefer as i say the idea that we have a number of all times greats instead’

Agreed GG.
I personally don’t think any player has been greater than Bjorg. I was a little kid when he was dominant but to me finishing as he did at 25 with 12 slams with all the contrasting surfaces and not even going to all the slam events, the channel slams etc makes it hard for me to put anybody over him including Fec and Sampras.

December 19th, 2015 at 8:39 am

My Dad too thought Borg was the greatest.

December 19th, 2015 at 11:06 am

Sorry amendment. My Dad thought Borg was the greatest. But he also thought Laver was the greatest and that the debate should be who between them is the GOAT,

December 19th, 2015 at 11:09 am

borg finished with 11 slams not 12.

December 19th, 2015 at 11:42 am

Borg was my guy back in the day. He wasn’t good looking or anything, but he did rock those really short shorts! I think he has aged nicely…..love his gorgeous silver gray hair. I remember in a slam finals when Johnny Mac beat him, the news media swamped him asking stupid questions, he told them very politely…… “Talk to John, it was his night”……… Good comeback, BB!! Johnny Mac now calls Borg his good friend. Loved to watch them play each other. Why are my favorite two players ever clay courters??

December 19th, 2015 at 12:06 pm

I think it is a very wise decision by Fed.

He is reducing his schedule based on the clay court tournaments and concentrating on his aim of being fresher for the later part of the year where he has always played his best tennis.

For me, wimbledon can’t come too soon. I think unrealistic for him to win Rio, likely to be Novak or Andy. However, who knows? When you think it is only 6 months away, you realise that time really does pass very quickly indeed.

Hope the rumours are true and that Fed plays for the next 4 to 5 years, but in reality, I cant see that happening.

As a fed fan, I had geared myself up for his retirement at the Rio Olympics.

December 19th, 2015 at 12:35 pm

Oki,

That was a really lovely post about Borg. If only players could converse the way he did then, about J Mac.

December 19th, 2015 at 12:36 pm

@madmax…..I have never forgotten the soft spoken manner in which Borg spoke those words….it was so sweet. I knew there was another reason why I liked him so much. He also told a story about smashing a racquet as a youngster and his father jerked him off the court and told him no more of that. If he kept up that behavior on court no more tennis. He got the message and said he never smashed another one!

December 19th, 2015 at 12:51 pm

On Fed quitting….I don’t really know why he should…..he is still going deep into the tournaments, for the most part. He might not beat Novak, who seems to always be in the finals, but he will win the majority of the matches otherwise. He might get slipped up on once in awhile. He will beat Stan 99% of the time. Heck, he is still playing amazing. You know, semis and runner up is a good resume stat. Yep, play on Feddy!!

December 19th, 2015 at 1:02 pm

Does anyone really believe that Fed will play no tournaments between IW and FO for two full months?

He’ll likely play a small clay warm up tournament like Istanbul again.

December 19th, 2015 at 2:21 pm

You are right elina, I think he might play Istanbul, he missed to visit Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque when he played it this year, you’ve haven’t been in Istanbul unless you’ve been in those two.

December 19th, 2015 at 6:23 pm

CDP@December 19th 8.39am, what about Conners with over 100 titles,and over 1000 career wins?just to throw another possiblity in the mix?….

December 20th, 2015 at 1:21 am

Borg has 11 GS, never won USO nor AO which by his own admission he boycotted (played only ones methinks), to much fuss has been made about him quitting the tennis at young age and truth was, most likely, that Borg couldn’t have handled being beaten by McEnroe, his nemesis who started to beat him on regular bases. Looking at those things I don’t see how Borg can be grater than Roger, Rafa, Sampras or Laver.

December 20th, 2015 at 3:37 am

didn’t say he was greater I said I wouldn’t put anyone above him

He could have come back from being beaten by Mcenroe but he didnt even try so you may have a point there.

Connors had amazing staying power GG, but slam count does matter at some point as he ‘only’ (I believe) got 8 of em.

December 20th, 2015 at 8:02 am

CDP/Wogboy This for me is the sole reason that i believe in greats rather than GOATs,as theres so many different caveats to the topic,and people also have opinions that vary,some think its only GS that count,some believe its Masters 1000s,career wins,weeks at number 1 etc the list goes on,and 109 titles i believe is sic?….

December 20th, 2015 at 8:43 am

I’m bored to tears about the whole subject
the only reason it’s still flying is due to the Fedal numbskulls and it looks like quite a few Novak fans are sadly coming around to this way of ‘thinking’ by the wayside.

December 20th, 2015 at 9:24 am

Poor joker, didn’t even win the BBC Overseas Spoty award. 😜😜😜😜

December 20th, 2015 at 3:38 pm

Well done GB DC team for winning the BBC SPOTY Award

December 20th, 2015 at 3:57 pm

Smart schedule, I would say.

Rotterdam is a fast indoor court, he has a good shot at winning it, plus its close to home, so why not try and add 500 points there. Get 2 clear months for rest and training after IW. He wouldn’t want to miss a slam so will go lights out at the French to win a few rounds, probably make another QF or semi. That would bring in some match practice after 2 months off, so that he can play the grass stretch with full effort. He should be primed for Wimbledon unless he gets injured. After that the break is not that long (about a month) before Toronto, which I think he will play since he needs to be match fit on hard courts before the Olympics. Then is the real tough stretch of Cincinnati and US open. Skipping the entire clay season will position him better than almost any other player – almost everyone else would have played much more than him by the time Olympics rolls around, or the US open.

As for winning a slam – if he gets some luck, he could still win Wimbledon, or perhaps even the US open. Olympics are always more of a coin toss, so again, other than Djokovic, its difficult to favor anyone else against him on grass or hard.

As for Nadal, tough to say but I don’t think he can regain his peak form or anything close to it now at almost age 30.

2016 looks pretty good for Djokovic.

I think we will see a bunch of key retirements in late 2016.

December 22nd, 2015 at 8:13 am

Dont really care if Djokovic remains number 1 for the next gazillion years,just hope he aint gonna win the next gazillion titles,just hope GS and other titles get shared out a bit,if thats alright,and silly as it might seem….

December 22nd, 2015 at 8:44 am

Djokovic is not invincible – he lost thrice on his favorite surface to a 34 year old player. Or shall we say in perhaps Djoke’s best year, a 34 year old Federer beat Djokovic more times on Djoke’s favorite surface than the rest of the ATP field combined?

Either Federer is THAT good. Or Djoke faced a weak field. You can’t have it both ways.

As for comments about 2006 being a weak field era – Nadal was a full force on clay by then, Safin was in full form (double slam winner and former No. 1 – something Murray can’t boast of), Roddick was a huge threat on grass (again a slam winner and former No. 1), Hewitt was in top form (again double slam winner and former No. 1 – better than Murray I would say), Nalbandian was in peak form (always a tough player, though never really won a slam – did with the ATP finals though, something Nadal has never won).

Just because Djokovic was not there doesn’t mean it was a weak field. People forget, very quickly.

In 04, 06, AND 07, the three years Fed won 3 slams each – he only lost to the very best on THEIR best surface and his worst – an inspired Guga in 2004 and Nadal in 06/07 (the best clay courter in the history of the game). Djoke choked in the French final against a far lesser player this year. Didn’t go undefeated at the ATP finals either.

So 2006 92-5 with all the nuances still is the best year in the open era.

December 22nd, 2015 at 9:01 am

James yeah i do get all that,and im not arguing otherwise, weak field whatever,best year whatever, dont really care to pontificate,i just wouldnt mind some other players actually having their share of titles and slams, and not every player been Novaks play things….

December 22nd, 2015 at 9:30 am

And there was no choking involved, Stan was simply better than Novak at the FO,winning the first set,been a break up in a match,serving for the match, is certainly no guarantee of actually winning it in the end….

December 22nd, 2015 at 9:57 am

It is hard to imagine Nadal at age 30 beating a peak Djoker. We have to hope Djoker won’t be in peak form or that Murray finds his mojo or some new player has a breakthrough year. Otherwise 2016 would be another year in the weak era. I agree with James that 2006 was not as weak as 2015. Not only did the competition include slam winners in their peak years but also the next gen had players like Nadal, Djoker, Murray whose huge potential was already evident. It was 20 year old Nadal who beat a 24 year old Fed in the French Open holding promise of doing the same next year and many more years.

December 22nd, 2015 at 10:18 am

Nadal had already won his French Open the previous year beating Fed in the semis. Do we have his exciting counterpart in 2015?

December 22nd, 2015 at 10:22 am

There is no bigger insult to the game than skipping g all these wonderful clay court tournaments. Sure, some cows and goats will come to these grass court tournaments but real people watch tennis on clay.

December 22nd, 2015 at 11:21 am

Novak……16,585 points
Muzza…… 8,845 points

What does that vast point spread between #1 & #2 actually mean?? 7,740 points is a lot! What’s up wid dat?? I got my own ideas….but will keep them to myself……… :)

December 22nd, 2015 at 12:20 pm

Okiegal, the points spread you are looking at refers to the 52 week rolling ranking. Following that ranking will tell you what points a player needs to try and defend each week and what points will be dropping off from 2015 each Monday. Some of us like to watch the rolling 52 week ranking. Our #1, Nole, says he doesn’t pay attention to that ranking because he doesn’t see it that way – he focuses on winning and playing his best, not on defending. Nole is very smart and good at managing pressure, I’d say. He’s a happy #1.

The race to London starts from scratch – points are not dropped each week – they’re added as won and build from there. If Nole wins AO, that’s a heckuva great start! If he makes the final or semi? well, it’s a decent start and he’ll still be #1. But in the race to London the AO winner will have more points.

Here is the question to ask: What’s the difference between 1. and 2. below. Reading the Rankings FAQ link will help too.

1.What is the Emirates ATP Rankings?
2.What is the Emirates ATP Rankings Race To London?
http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/rankings/rankings-faq

This is the tournament link which is my tennis bible as the crazy tennis follower I am. I go to each tournament and see who’s in the draw:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/tournaments

Can’t believe it’s almost here 2016 downunder!

We have Chennai, Doha, and Brisbane the 1st week in January. Aukland and Sydney, 2nd week, then 3rd week of January it’s AO already — less than a month away! How fast a year goes, right?

December 22nd, 2015 at 8:32 pm

Thanks Jalep…..that is all too deep for me…but thanks!!

December 23rd, 2015 at 1:36 am

I’m getting all hyped up for the Aussie Open….watching that old match between Rafa and Nando I have recorded. That is an all time favorite 5 setter of mine…..some awesome tennis!

December 23rd, 2015 at 1:39 am

Okie i remember that match well,although im a Rafa fan i really felt for Nando,who shouldve won to be fair,and i dont think he was the same player afterwards,it made me cry when Rafa hopped over the net afterwards to console his friend,however its all irelevant now but i dont think he wouldve had much left in the tank to face Roger,Rafa was deffinetly a more formidable foe….

December 23rd, 2015 at 2:04 am

okie and all tennis-x posters, have a great New Year! Not excluding CDP who will hopefully curb his propensity to fill doctors’ offices with his female family members!!!

December 23rd, 2015 at 7:28 am

lol, lakie!

December 23rd, 2015 at 7:49 am

@GG….Yes shame there had to be a loser, but happy it wasn’t Rafa. Nando played his heart out, but so did Rafa. It was a classic!!

@lakie….Happy New Year wishes back at cha and CDP too……..

December 23rd, 2015 at 10:12 am