When Roger Federer announced in February that he was going to have a knee arthroscopic operation, the fans had many regrets. He said he was missing 5 tournaments: Dubai, Indian Wells, Bogata, the Miami Open and Roland Garros.
But the coincidence is that because of the coronavirus, everyone in the world would miss the same tournaments. Dubai Duty Free was the only one saved in the Swiss calendar.
But from that moment of the pandemic, Federer had plenty of time to know that the timing was on his side. Due to the Swiss operation, he had to compromise for the missing competitions, but he saved more time with his family, which is difficult on normal circuits.
Tournaments have become a fiasco to schedule, as the coronavirus has started to spread in the United States and other countries. Indian Wells was the first to go.
It had to be canceled, but the players complained that they were not properly informed while some were still in California to train.
They had to pack their bags and go home.
Federer did not have to undergo this, only to recover from the operation which could have compromised his ability to play, but in the long term, the doctors gave him the prognosis for a full recovery.
While the tournaments had to be postponed due to the spread of the virus, the dates of the French Open have been changed by the French Federation.
Unfortunately, they coincide with the Laver Cup dates that Roger Federer helped found and organize. The Laver Cup is ready and already sold out for the TD Boston Garden arena from September 25 to 27.
The French Open is reprogrammed from September 20 to October 4. The conflict is that players will have to choose between the Laver Cup or Roland Garros. “If you are going to make the players decide between this event and Roland-Garros, it will be quite a decision …”
said Sam Groth, a former ATP player, about the controversy. What will the organizers of the Laver Cup do? Federer may have faced challenges before, but never between a slam and his annual Laver Cup.
The Swiss had the Wimbledon turf event as the next tournament after his operation, his entire ATP season was due to start around April 27, now it will not progress until the first week of June.
Timing is key, but the important fact is that nothing can be predicted. Federer is going through the main conflict which consists in keeping or changing the dates of the Laver Cup.
Both are of great importance. Rafael Nadal is the winner of the 2019 French Open and that of the US Open last year. He would surely like to defend these two titles. Alexander Zverev teamed up with Federer to win the last Laver Cup against Jack Sock and Denis Shapovalov.
So he may not want to miss this one. Compromises to be made and conflicts to be resolved, if possible for Roger Federer. It may be easier to handle tennis situations when he was playing, rather than now that he is no longer playing.
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