At the end of the night session, scheduled for the 3rd round match between the German Dominik Koepfer and the immense Roger Federer, we were happy. The tournament was happy. The tennis fans were happy. Everyone was going to be able to continue to see Roger Federer play in Paris, and above all, above all, they were not going to see him leave the tournament in front of an empty stadium, making soup with a face. It was the case for Koepfer but, let’s be honest, we don’t care.
He had started to lay the groundwork
On the other hand, the departure of “Rodge” in these conditions would not have been worthy of the possible best player of all time. Phew! Moreover, the exact opposite has happened. Not only did the Swiss beat the German but in addition, he was all smiles at the end of the match and, as usual (let’s give back to Caesar…), he did not try to make it short, he was The interview conducted by Marion Bartoli – precisely on the court – or at a press conference. As a reminder, it was late and more than one would have made monosyllabic answers.
Until then, all is well you will tell me. Then the next day, around 4 p.m., right on time for afternoon tea, the news broke: Roger Federer retired from the tournament.
It must be said that, in the English part of his press conference, he had started to lay the groundwork, saying that he was going to study with his team what was the right decision to take regarding the rest of the competition. Worse, he mentioned the tournament in Halle, explaining that if he continued, he would not have his usual week of rest to prepare for it! What should we understand from this sentence? That Roland-Garros is only a preparation tournament for the wonderful tournament in Halle which, by the way, as soon as there is a little sun, is totally invisible because of the shade which then cuts the court into of them ?
The answer is clearly yes. Roger Federer never came to Paris to win the tournament. He just came to make competitive / preparation matches for the future. For the “real” part of the season: the grass. You know, these three little weeks which are therefore clearly much more important than the clay, on which there are tournaments every week, throughout the year!
I don’t understand, and I will never understand, why he came to Paris.
It is a debate. That I will not hold today, even if I am convinced of the masquerade. It is obvious that there are more players who play on land than on grass in a year. It’s factual. As a result, clay has a much more impact on each other’s rankings over the season as a whole than grass can be.
But that’s not the worst part. No, the magic of the trick is that after showing an absolute disrespect to one of the four Grand Slam tournaments to prepare for a 500, Roger Federer then lost there in the 2nd round. Big deal.
Frankly, I can hear he’s not 20 anymore. I can hear he has had two knee surgeries in quick succession. I can hear he prefers Wimbledon and lawn tennis. On the other hand, I don’t understand, and I will never understand, why he came to Paris. It was very easy for him to say that clay is too physical for his condition and that it was therefore not reasonable, in view of his “fitness”, to compete in Roland-Garros. He could also have said that he wanted to do the maximum to be the best possible physically at Wimbledon, in order to give himself the best chance of, why not, winning a 21st Grand Slam title. Who would have said anything then? Me ? Certainly not.
With this attitude, Roger Federer deeply disappointed me. He lacked respect at Roland Garros. In addition, he entered a tournament knowing that he was not coming to try to win it. I just hope for him that he will not be pulled out in the 1st round of Wimbledon, otherwise he will just have made a series of bad decisions.
.
