RF Schedule 2017

I love your charts, cromar. Thanks.

btw, any news of evil_ (was it her/his name?) ?

Roger outlined his upcoming schedule in his final presser at the USO

Now I have Laver Cup, Shanghai, Basel, Paris, and London. That's my schedule, and it won't change. I hope I'm fully recovered and 100% fit when Laver Cup comes around. When that's over, I hope I'm going to arrive really early in Shanghai to really get ready and make it a priority for me to win that tournament. So that's the schedule there.

Thanks Rufus!

Laver Cup should be fun... a tennis event, with a different atmosphere, nice to change up a bit after the Slam season!

Rufus1 wrote:Roger outlined his upcoming schedule in his final presser at the USO

Now I have Laver Cup, Shanghai, Basel, Paris, and London. That's my schedule, and it won't change. I hope I'm fully recovered and 100% fit when Laver Cup comes around. When that's over, I hope I'm going to arrive really early in Shanghai to really get ready and make it a priority for me to win that tournament. So that's the schedule there.

First time I heard him mention Paris... so that is nice. If he does well in those... he has a chance to catch Rafa. But it would be made a whole lot easier if Rafa does not win the USO.

Sherl wrote:Laver Cup should be fun... a tennis event, with a different atmosphere, nice to change up a bit after the Slam season!

Well, it's basically an exhibition, so no real pressure. Plus he and Rafa are on the same team so that's good - I can not hate Rafa for a few days.

Nice reply steerpike60...

Edit by Admin:
Rahul1912 - This thread is to discuss Roger's schedule. If you want to talk about Nadal (as tennis player), please do so in General Tennis (Players Forum) or the 'US Open - Other Players' thread. Bye the way, his private life is just 'that', private.

It am not too surprised that Roger may actually skip Paris, as he realizes that the No 1 spot is probably out of reach now.

Roger Federer hints at schedule change amid Rafael Nadal chase for year-end world No. 1


George Bellshaw - Metro UK

Monday 25 Sep 2017



Federer is set to shift his schedule (Picture: Getty)


Roger Federer has admitted he may skip the Paris Masters after Rafael Nadal’s US Open win opened the gap at the top of the ATP rankings.


The Swiss – who crashed out at the quarter-finals stage in New York – is nearly 2000 points behind the world No. 1 with just four events left that he was planning to play.

After his defeat to Juan Martin del Potro at Flushing Meadows, he insisted his schedule was set, saying: ‘Now I have Laver Cup, Shanghai, Basel, Paris and London. That’s my schedule, and it won’t change.’

ATP top-five rankings and points

1. Nadal	9465
2. Federer	7505
3. Murray	6790
4. Zverev	4310
5. Cilic	4155

However, the 36-year-old has now cast doubt on those plans, with Paris potentially set to become a casualty.

‘Next weeks will be extremely important with Shanghai, Basel, maybe Paris and ATP Finals in London,’ he told Blick.

‘My goal is to get to Shanghai early, maybe on Friday. Basel will take priority over Bercy.’

Federer schedule

08 Oct	Shanghai Masters
23 Oct	Basel
30 Oct	Paris Masters
11 Nov	ATP Finals

Federer’s motivation to skip Paris is likely to be largely due to Nadal’s extended rankings lead.

The Masters 1000 event offers more ranking points than Basel – although the draw to return to Switzerland is always great for the world No. 2 – and should the gap for top spot be tighter, he would perhaps be less likely to skip it.

And Federer admitted the chase for world No. 1 has become a ‘secondary’ goal as he focuses on his own fitness, particularly in light of the back injury that hampered him in Montreal and forced him to skip Cincinnati.


Federer is chasing Nadal at the top of the rankings (Picture: Getty)


‘It [the year-end world No. 1 ranking] became a little bit secondary for me as Nadal got far away,’ he added.

‘I will focus on myself and I will play only when I am ready.

Back was really doing bad after Montreal and there was a little problem after another.

‘After the last match played in New York I felt really happy to take a break. Now I am doing well.’

^^^ Can't say I'm surprised. We all knew that for Roger to have any realistic chance to end the year #1, Rafa had to not win the USO. Unfortunately he was gifted that, so no point in Roger killing himself for nothing.

Now, if Rafa were to crash out early in Shanghai or Basel... Roger might change his mind. And we all know that Roger will never sacrifice Basel for Paris despite the points differential.

Man... it's such a drag that Roger's back basically ruined any chance for Roger to challenge for #1.

Re Basel and/or Bercy.

He says Shanghai, Basel and maybe Bercy then WTF.

It should be noted that that is the order in which they are played!!!

Two weeks for fitness and tennis prep for Shanghai.  Apparently he is going earlier than normal - remember that he seems to have a lot of sponsor obligations etc there as well.  His stated goal is to win it.  Whether he does or not, is another matter as most of his rivals will have played the week before.  How far he goes may impact his schedule as well.  Win, you have 5 matches in your legs.  Lose early, and maybe one or two.  Big difference at 36.

Shanghai is week of Oct 9.

One week "off" to travel back from China and get ready for Basel.  He has a lot of sponsor duties and "friend" duties in Basel as well.  For me, it seems that these off-court activities are also draining in a different sort of way.  Bevis said that Roger was putting in basically 18 hour days in Prague.  It is remarkable how well he played given his fatigue level from that alone!!!  Some of these recent comments re scheduling may have been made in the reality of that fatigue of the moment there.

Basel is the week of October 23.  Roger always wants to win this tournament for obvious reasons.  And emotionally, it is fatiguing as well.

Paris is the next week - week of October 30.

In other words, he doesn't need to make a decision about Paris until after Basel, or at least closer to it.  It may come down to how far he went in Shanghai, how far he went in Basel.  

Basel has always been a priority over Paris. But Basel also comes before Paris in the schedule.  The only real show of priority is actually always playing Basel!!  (and also choosing not to play one of the Asian 500s instead).  By points available, Paris would take priority for other players, if tired, since they are back to back.  Play his post USO 500 tournament as prep for Shanghai in Asia.  And then play Bercy only.  But not for Roger.  I think that that is what he meant by his statement - He would definitely be playing Basel and then decide about Paris - in other words, like he has always done!! (He has usually decided to play BUT it is not a happy stomping ground for him - It was only in 2011 that he was able to win Basel, Paris, and WTF in a row. And that year he played DC INSTEAD of Shanghai.)

The week of November 5 is off (except for Next Gen finals but Roger not involved there - will Sascha go?? given WTF the next week??).  That will be R&R and getting to London.

The week of November 12 is WTF, another priority for Roger.

So Paris Bercy participation comes down, as it seems to have, to how he feels physically and fatigue both physical and emotional/mental towards the end of Basel and amount of match play there.  Can he play another week and take one week off before WTF and be ready for WTF?  Has he lost early in these two events, or perhaps only Basel and needs indoor match play before WTF?  Or has he won both events, is tired from match play and sponsor and other obligations, and needs the two weeks to rest/recuperate first and then reset for WTF.

A lot twixt now and then.  I don't think I would read anything further into his comments than that.  He is 36, he rarely plays well at Paris as far as getting ranking points anyways.  What is the best use of that week in prep for the goal of WTF??  Play or rest?  He is still figuring that out post surgery and advancing birthdays!!

At the US Open, he was speaking off the cuff, not perhaps realizing how draining the Laver Cup would be off the court, given that he was the face of it.  And also to try to spin to the press, that his back was such that two weeks rest would solve it and he would be ready to go for the rest of the season - he wouldn't be taking another "big" break.  He would be fit to play it all!!!  But he never really has played it all on a regular basis, fit or otherwise, in terms of going far everywhere, winning tournaments - Roger has mentioned that this winning tournament goal is now superseding any ranking goal.  Sometimes, they are mutually exclusive, particularly at Roger's age as he is finding out.  He needs to figure out the best ratio of rest to tournament play at this point in his career to allow him to win the tournaments dear to him. Watching his three matches, and Nadal jumping into his arms and him lifting the cup on all sorts of occasion, it seems that his back is, at least for the moment, behaving itself again.  So back to normal - to play or not play Bercy - wait and see.    He reiterated that he would focus on himself and play when he was ready - his mantra this year. He took pressure off himself at AO by saying that any win would be a success - He could play free - by taking pressure off himself by saying not really going after #1 now - maybe he can play free again for the rest of the year.

Now that Roger believes the YE #1 is not in reach, Paris is expendable.  Of course, Paris has always been a bit expendable, since he's always made Basel the priority.  It's really too bad (because of the schedule) that Paris, with its 1000 points, gets the shaft most years for Roger.

My feeling is that with the YE #1 no longer a reachable goal, I hope he can get another WTF and prevent Rafa from ever winning it.

^^^^ - Not so much that Paris is "expendable" in as much as he has actually played most years once the current ATP schedule was in place, but rather that Roger has rarely done well at it!!  It is not a "reliable" source of points for him even if he was going after #1!!  

It comes down to WTF - what does he need to do in order to be in the best shape to win that?

He "lost" the chance of going after #1 when he was forced out of Cincy.  That, not Paris, is the more reliable source of points for him.  

He is no longer really in control of the #1 quest - whether it is possible depends on how Rafa does in Asia (1400 points up for grabs for him there - defending 90) and to a lesser extent in Basel, although Roger is there.  This time in the season is not a good one for Rafa given how much he has played before that and how Roger comes into the WTF could actually decide things there, particularly if he does very well at Shanghai and Basel and Rafa doesn't.  Historically, Paris was never going to really help make up the difference.  He usually played, just not well, and so now must ask the question - Is it worth playing going into the WTF with the chance to do well there?

Some other thoughts - How will Sascha do?  He is playing a 250 tournament this week - will headline the other half to Rafa in Beijing - and is #3 in the race -

The WTF will take on a totally different look to any we have seen in the recent past and Roger will have to fancy his chances!!  With Novak, Stan (and Kei although not in the top rankings anyways) out for the season, here are the current top 8 in the race who would play, per ATP, should the WTF start tomorrow.

Nadal, Roger, Sascha, Dom, Grigor, Marin, Pablo Carreno-Busta and Sam Querrey!!!  Anderson is still very much in the mix and possibly Goffin and Berdych!!

^^^ Oh, I totally agree that Roger missing Cincinnati hurt him much more in the race for YE#1 than missing Paris, since as you say, Paris has never been a reliable source of points for Roger.  Even Roger missing the whole clay season didn't really hurt him.  His back screwing up his summer hardcourt season is what killed his YE#1 chance.

But depending on how Asia and Basel go... Roger still could potentially have a chance although it will be slim.  Basically Roger needs to win a few Fall titles and Rafa has to lose early.

Anyway, I pretty much gave up on YE#1 when Rafa won the USO.  Now I'm hoping for another WTF title.  If not, just don't let Rafa win it.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/41627716

"I'll go home and we will work out where I play next, Basel, Paris, one of those or none, before I go to London, which is my priority," said Federer.

So Basel and Paris both iffy?

^^^
That's what I understood, Corinne. He set the priority in winning the WTF, and will decide what will be the best for him to achieve it: playing both, one of or none of the tournaments till London.

Yikes there is less time between now and Basel than I thought. I could see why he'd say that now. Now I can sees scenario where he skips Basel but plays Paris. He is right though. WTF is the priority, #1 ranking not so much now.

Basel is a week away and Roger wouldn't have to play until Tuesday or Wednesday so I don't understand the logic. Rumor has it that Rafa will withdraw from Basel as he doesn't want to face Roger at a place where he has won and been to the finals so often. If Roger feels well, he should play Basel and Paris..... see what happens. Roger has been able to keep his matches short.