RF Schedule 2018

Finally the weak era shows its true face. 8)

It looks like the book on Dubai may not be completely closed if we are to believe the ATP, but with a 16-hour flight between Dubai and San Francisco and a 12-hour time change, that would seem like a crazy schedule to me!  

In an interview today in Melbourne, Roger mentioned that the next tournaments on his schedule are Indian Wells and Miami, then added that he may play something before, but hasn't decided yet. W'll see, he said. Maybe he could play Rotterdam in February instead. It would be close to home, at least (if he stays in Switzerland).

Roger to make a decision on Dubai within a week or two...

I hope he does not go to Dubai.
As he has so many points to defend in Miami and IW it would be hard to keep this No1 anyway.
He could just wait until the clay season and lean back and see what is happening there. I hope he skips the clay season as well and spends some quality time with family and friends.

Edit: I don't mean he should skip all, of course play IW and Miami.....

Kop8zky wrote:I hope he does not go to Dubai.
As he has so many points to defend in Miami and IW it would be hard to keep this No1 anyway.
He could just wait until the clay season and lean back and see what is happening there. I hope he skips the clay season as well and spends some quality time with family and friends.

Edit: I don't mean he should skip all, of course play IW and Miami.....

I disagree with this idea. I understand, at this point in his career, adding a few weeks to his already huge tally of 302 weeks at #1 doesn't really add much to the resume. But what is going to be a standout is to be able to make it to #1 -- even for ONE week -- at 36 years and 6 months. I think that is going be extremely difficult for anyone to achieve. This would he wasn't just playing slams and occasionally winning, but playing an almost full schedule and was at the very top. I actually don't mind if he skips Miami after playing IW. But Dubai should be a must, just for the sake of #1. I don't mind if he skips the whole of red dirt.

skumars wrote:I understand, at this point in his career, adding a few weeks to his already huge tally of 302 weeks at #1 doesn't really add much to the resume.  But what is going to be a standout is to be able to make it to #1 -- even for ONE week -- at 36 years and 6 months.  I think that is going be extremely difficult for anyone to achieve.  This would he wasn't just playing slams and occasionally winning, but playing an almost full schedule and was at the very top.  I actually don't mind if he skips Miami after playing IW.  But Dubai should be a must, just for the sake of #1.  I don't mind if he skips the whole of red dirt.

This is a really good point that I hope is a part of the conversation with his team. While I can understand that chasing #1 from behind could be detrimental to his health and longevity, playing in Dubai this year would be more akin to staying in front because the current #1 is defending points that would cause him to lose the #1 ranking if he fails to do so. Both in Paris and at the AO, the current #1 went only as far into the tournament as he had to to retain his ranking before pulling out with an injury. This is the first occasion in a long time where becoming #1 is 100% on Roger's racket. He wins the tournament = he's the new #1. I know that Roger has said in the past that he prefers to become #1 by winning than by having to rely on others losing, so it's possible that he may take the wildcard into Dubai.

I hadn't considered that playing Dubai and winning could take Miami off the table. Your point makes good sense because once he gets to #1 it doesn't really matter how long he stays in that position since from a seeding standpoint there's no difference between #1 or #2. Skipping Miami could give him a bit of a break before heading down to Africa in April, which could allow him some additional time to prepare for the red dirt if he's inclined to play some on the surface.

My opinion about Roger playing on clay is that I would prefer that he not step on the stuff unless Nadal is not in the tournament or Roger has the confidence and the belief that he can take out Nadal on clay. His belief is the key to his winning, I think. It's not his style to think that way, however, so my opinion is moot.

He may play Rotterdam instead of Dubai. And he may pass up on Miami to play Madrid (He has won there) and Roland Garros. 1 would like to see RF get to no. 1 again and if he does, it may go back and forth until the later part of the year, where Roger plays better and Nadal wilts.

I think Roger should just skip the clay season altogether. It seemed to work for him last year. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 8)  Sure I would love another Roland Garros trophy for him but that isn't likely going to happen while the "king of clay" is still in the mix. We all know the Spaniard centres his entire season around the clay tournaments - for a reason. Roger is best just to avoid that mess altogether and focus on tournaments where he has the best chance. That's just my opinion of course.

I think Roger should play Dubai-IW-Miami. He didn't play that much in AO compared to last year. Even Halep spent more time on court than him. The field in Dubai is a joke to be honest so he should be able to reach the final and guarantees world #1 one more time. It's gonna be huge for him even for just one week. Then we also have to remember there are days off between matches in IW & Miami which is gonna help him massively. Yeah I think he should play all 3. For the clay court season he should play Rome+FO then depending on his result in FO he should play/skip Halle and then Wimbledon of course.

Personally I want Roger to play either Dubai or Rotterdam and win the title and get #1. However if Roger doesn't want to alter his plans at all and believes in himself to get there anyway or doesn't care to get there at all, that is also fine by me. That said, to be #1 at 36 and to know you have it on your racquet is really a great opportunity. I am ok if he drops Miami altogether and doesn't even defend points. The race to #1 will shake out over the course of the season anyway. Something tells me, he might get the #1 ranking during the clay court season this year when Nadal fails to defend the mountain of points he accumulated last year. And then he will keep it for the rest of the year. But at 36, he might pick up a niggle later in the season like he did in Montreal last year and that might ruin opportunities to get to #1. So I personally hope that he does play either Rotterdam or Dubai and does well enough there to get #1. If he makes the semis at Rotterdam, he will be #1 even if it is for just one week. I will gladly take it. I can't think of any 36 year olds becoming #1 even in the past generations let alone future generations with way more competition and physical intensity in the game. It would be a truly historic achievement as are indeed a lot of his achievements. I hope he considers seriously. Almost prefer it to be Rotterdam over Dubai given the schedule. There is almost a whole week to be fair between end of Dubai (Typically ends on Saturday) and his first match at Indian Wells (definitely no sooner than Friday, likely to be Saturday). So it is not exactly back to back weeks. But with Rotterdam, there will be even lesser travel and more time between tournaments. Then again, at 36, he needs his breaks and his vacations. Last year, he arrived in Dubai rusty and undercooked and only found his stride in Indian Wells. Also he was pretty exhausted by the late stages of Miami. The AO this year wasn't as physically or mentally taxing as last year. Who knows, he might just chase it.

The problem is that Roger has another commitment just after Dubai. He has Match 4 Africa on March 5th and the Dubai Final (assuming he'll go all the way in Dubai) is on March 3rd. Who knows maybe he also has an event related to his charity on march 4th. I remember last year the night before his match against Isner in Seattle he had a dinner or something. So really he has only 1 days to get to California for this event. That's why he might not participate even though the #1 ranking is on his racquet (winning the title in Dubai guarantees that regardless of nadal's result) These charity matches should be during the first few weeks of the clay season since he won't play during that time just like last year he played twice (against Murray & against Isner) bad planning on his part. I don't think he'll play.

Roger scheduled his Match for Africa just before IW probably to avoid having to take an extra trip across the ocean just for an exho. Not such a bad idea. He just made a choice, and the fact that he did not put his name on the entry list indicates that he was already very hesitant about going to Dubai.  

If it's any indication, the schedule on his website just go updated and there is no Dubai, or any other tournament listed before the Match for Africa...

Yeah but the situation has changed after he won the AO and Nadal lost in the QF. He now has a chance to write history (yet again!) He could become the oldest number 1 ever men or women (serena 35 has the record) If he skips Dubai because of a charity event and Nadal reaches the SF in Acapulco then, in my opinion, he made a huge mistake and missed a big opportunity. He should really re-think this.

Well that tells you roger really isn’t interested in chasing #1 if he indeed has decided not to play Dubai, which I’m fine with. Unlike the other one who’s very desperate. We know Roger has nothing to prove anymore so why are we now being greedy again? I’m happy with whatever he decides as long as he’s healthy. I’d rather see him play longer than seeing him become the oldest #1, if one can only choose one of he two.

I don't think that Roger isn't interested on #1, but it could be that he thinks right now is not the best time to chase it. Remember last year, he said it was better to be year end #1, than to become it before the USO. The season is just starting... lots of scenarios could play out!

I would be very surprised if he did not try for the n.1

We are not talking about radical or desperate measures. It's just another tournament, that, by the way, he has been playing regularly for years.

It makes no sense not to try, knowing that the difference in points is so small. Especially if we consider the large number of points he will have to defend later.

Any result that is not again a perfect performance, will keep him away from # 1. And, let's be realistic, it's difficult to bet on another double championship. Possible, but unlikely.