Federer, who breezed through his opening round match at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, beating Benoit Paire 6-1, 6-3 in 54 minutes, has reiterated that his impending schedule will be influenced by how many matches he plays in the coming weeks.
After Dubai, the 35-year-old is due to play in Indian Wells and Miami (starting March 27th).
Federer will decide after Miami whether he wants to add clay court build-up tournaments, if any, to his diary – ahead of the French Open, which begins on May 28th.
Currently, the Swiss has not made any concrete plans beyond the end of March, aside from the Grand Slams and scheduled commitments such as the Laver Cup.
“Yeah, I said it already in Australia that I will only decide on the clay court swing after Miami,” the 18-time Grand Slam winner told media in Dubai on Monday night.
“So as of now, you know, if I lost every match from here on till Miami, you know, that changes things around, or if you won a lot of matches until the clay court season comes around. So all that plays into how many tournaments I want or can play and have to play.
“So, for me, I will really take it from there. What I meant with it, you know, in my best years I think I played three, sometimes four tournaments. That’s always going to be a hard ask right now, because also the body needs some always some healing again.”
He added: “I would also like to put in some build-up. And because of the week being gone after Wimbledon and now being put in between Paris and Wimbledon, I have less time also after Wimbledon going into the American summer.
“I hope it makes sense. I know you know what I’m saying. That’s why I need to just see how the American swing goes now, and then I will take it from there.”
