Roger Federer hasn’t won a French Open title since 2009. This year is not going to be any different, going by what the 20-time Grand Slam champion has to say. Federer, who recently lost to Pablo Andujar in the Geneva Open round of 16, has his eyes peeled on the grass season. The Swiss superstar, who resumed playing from the Qatar Open after two knee surgeries, thinks he hasn’t had enough game time to dream of a Roland Garros title.
“I think when you played so little and you know where your level is at, and I think you saw that today, how can I think of winning the French Open? I’m just realistic that I know I will not win the French Open, and whoever thought I would or could win it is wrong. Of course, crazier things might have happened, but I’m not so sure in the last 50 years at the French Open, somebody just rocked up at 40-years-old, being out for a year and a half and just go on to just win everything straight,” Federer told Reuters.
The grass season will follow after the French Open ends in the middle of June. Federer, who has eight Wimbledon titles to his name, has his priorities set. “Roland Garros is not the goal. The goal is the grass, so I still have time,” he said.
Rafael Nadal is the current defending French Open champion, who also won the recently concluded Italian Open, beating Novak Djokovic in the final. Nadal already has 13 Roland Garros titles, and with the way he’s going, the 14th one doesn’t look far away.