RF Schedule 2017

He is full of surprises! I have tickets for Cincinnati, so don't want him tired out!

This is what I wrote in the news thread

From the HP

http://www.rogerfederer.com/index.php/news/80-roger-will-play-rogers-cup-in-montreal

Roger will play Rogers Cup in Montreal

August 1st, 2017 -- Montreal, Canada

With 19 Grand Slam titles under his belt, Roger announced today he will be making his way back to the Rogers Cup to compete for the title this year in Montreal, Canada.

This will be the Swiss Maestro's first appearance at the Rogers Cup since 2011 and he will not only be seeking his third Rogers Cup title but also celebrating his Birthday next week in Montreal.

“I’m happy to be coming back to Montreal as I have not had a chance to play there for many years,” said Federer. “This 2017 season has been very exciting and I am really looking forward to being back out on the court on the ATP Tour.”

From Stephanie Myles, a Canadian tennis journalist.

http://tennis.life/2017/08/01/federer-confirms-hell-montreal/

Interesting that Tom Tebbutt, writing his Tebbutt Tuesday blog for TC earlier in the day, was suddenly not so pessimistic about the chances of Roger coming!! - I would imagine that he knew something was in the pipeline.  It did give me pause to wonder when it was released on TC twitter but I had other things to do in life than to do more than just ponder!!

http://www.tenniscanada.com/tebbutt-rogers-cup-rendez-vous/

On a topic suggested upthread re Roger insisting, contractually upon a "reasonable" schedule This is not on for a masters 1000 tournament - There is no contract!!  No appearance fees, no nothing.  He can make a request as do many of the players, but contract no.  As far as Rogers vs Roger, Rogers wins!!  Sorry - they are a communication giant and they are the primary sponsor for the tournament.  The tournament, ATP and WTA in their virtual combined tournament, is the main source of income for Tennis Canada.  In 2014, it really did come down to what was promised to Raonic himself, to the public, and to Rogers.  However, that had much more to do with being in Toronto, than being in Canada.  They will also be covering Sharapova and Venus and it depends where they want to allocate bandwidth and TV channels.  Last year, the women, in Montréal, were decidedly under-covered, but whether that was because it was Montréal or because it it was the WTA I have no idea.  Raonic, right now, is seeded #9 and will have to play a first round match unless Murray withdraws.  So they cannot preplan around him as they have the last couple of years.

On another note, oldfan must be delighted.  I on the other hand, will have to watch from home, but Montréal is so close!! - This is the first year I have not bought series tickets for many years (Toronto is slightly farther away but is much cheaper to stay at if you don't mind the dorms on the campus where it is held).  But I checked a while back - series tickets were sold out quite a while ago!!  And late hotel costs would be through the roof, so home it is.

Indybeck71 wrote:He is full of surprises! I have tickets for Cincinnati, so don't want him tired out!

Same here...

so Roger will play after all :bounce: very happy because we'll see him play and hopefully it won't affect his chances at the USO. After all, Roger knows his body more than anyone and if he decided to play that means he will be fine come the USO. Remember in 2014 he played a lot of 3 setters in Canada/Cinci. In tornto he play 3 sets against cilic and ferrer. In cinci, he played 3 sets against Pospisil, monfils, and ferrer in the final. Plus, he played the clay season and played tough matches at wimbledon that year which didn't happen this year. Hopefully he can go as far as possible without that much effort especially in Canada because I want him to be fresh in New York.

Rufus1 wrote:On a topic suggested upthread re Roger insisting, contractually upon a "reasonable" schedule This is not on for a masters 1000 tournament - There is no contract!!  No appearance fees, no nothing.  He can make a request as do many of the players, but contract no.  As far as Rogers vs Roger, Rogers wins!!  Sorry - they are a communication giant and they are the primary sponsor for the tournament.  The tournament, ATP and WTA in their virtual combined tournament, is the main source of income for Tennis Canada.  In 2014, it really did come down to what was promised to Raonic himself, to the public, and to Rogers.  However, that had much more to do with being in Toronto, than being in Canada.

Does this mean that, in Canada, Raonic is a so much bigger draw than Roger Federer that TC would make a promise to him and not extend the same option for Roger? I find this difficult to fathom, but I don't know Canada.

Roger is not required to attend any tournament from GSs to the lowest tier including M1000s. Even if there's no piece of paper, a promise similar to the one made for Raonic should suffice, provided they honor it. We can't know for sure either way, but until it doesn't happen, I'll look forward to better scheduling for the old man than what happened in Toronto 2014.

In your own words Rogers is a communications giant and, as such, logically, they should rather have Federer participate in a tournament that they sponsor, than not.  I suppose it's possible that TCanada are not aware that several global luxury brands pay Roger millions of dollars each year to act as their global ambassador and that Roger would probably put more butts in seats and eyes on their product than Raonic. Just yesterday I was flipping through channels and came across the Tennis Channel's coverage of the Washington tournament where two Americans were playing each other in an empty stadium, of course, neither of them was the equal of the Great Milos Raonic!

Good to have news!!! Let's hope the happy trend of the 3 block tourneys continues!

LOL. I guess I was wrong. I usually am when it comes to his schedule. Roger must be feeling pretty good and confident to take on all three tournaments.

I am happy that he is playing Montreal. If he is feeling rusty and doesn't do well in Montreal, he has another chance in Cincy. If he wins Montreal, he can take it easy in Cincy. Funny how expectations have changed. Suddenly we expect him to win everything as if this is 2006.

Fantastic news, this just made my day! Moreover, I really think it's the right decision and I expect Roger will win the Rogers Cup for the third time overall, but for the first time in Montreal.

tvradke wrote:I am happy that he is playing Montreal. If he is feeling rusty and doesn't do well in Montreal, he has another chance in Cincy. If he wins Montreal, he can take it easy in Cincy. Funny how expectations have changed. Suddenly we expect him to win everything as if this is 2006.

Are you really sure it is not 2006? Just kidding. But yes, the expectations changed. Which is all - as we know - Roger's fault.

What I am sure did not change is the question that will arrive the latest tomorrow: "when is the draw?"

The draw:  Friday, August 4 at 4 pm in Montreal.

Rogers Cup draw ceremony will take place on Friday, August 4.
Montreal - the men's draw at 4 pm. Toronto - the women's draw at 5.30 pm.

— Michal Samulski (@MichalSamulski) August 1, 2017

So what shall we do now folks? Speculate on whether he really will play Cincy

avasbar wrote:So what shall we do now folks? Speculate on whether he really will play Cincy

It's way too soon for such discussion! First we must speculate and stress about the draw in Montreal and whether he will have to play someone ranked below 100 in an early round!  

Congratulations to all the Canadian fans in Montreal who now have a chance to see Roger live close to home after so many years absence. I don't think he would have elected to play if he were not feeling hungry and ready to take on all comers on his way to #1. I look forward to seeing the hordes of Swiss flags, painted faces and red uniforms in the crowd.

Hopefully, it will be an exciting August, I think I am finally at the point where I can watch matches live (Montreal is PST in the US, right?). It's been a long while, but I took baby steps in the latter stages of W2017, and I'm very happy that I did. I think that as long as he keeps playing the way he is, aggressively on his own terms, I can stand to accept any outcome.

Hmm...speaking of Cincy, I wonder how his new commitment to aggression will translate on the quicker courts in that venue...no greedy get out of my head, we have a whole tournament to enjoy before that kind of speculation becomes relevant...and yet there are so many days between now and the draw and then the excruciating wait until Roger's first match. Does anybody know if the second round starts on Tuesday (5 matches in 6 days) or Wednesday (5 matches in 5 days)?

oldfan wrote:Fantastic news, this just made my day! Moreover, I really think it's the right decision and I expect Roger will win the Rogers Cup for the third time overall, but for the first time in Montreal.

I am so pleased for you!

And the quest for no1 begins!
Let's go Roger!!!!!

Oh, well - I never expected Roger to win another 2 majors this year, so everything from this point really is gravy.

If Roger goes deep in Montreal and Cinci, I can't see how he can win the USO. But I didn't see how he could win the Austalian Open, either!

Another tournament win and he ties with Lendl in second place on the all time winners list, too - so lets hope he does that during the next few weeks.