Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer has confirmed that he will return to Paris for the 2020 French Open, starting in May.
“I will play the French Open. I probably won’t play much before that because I need some time away from it (tennis) and I need some time with the family,” the 38-year-old was quoted as saying by CNN.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion had featured in the recently concluded French Open after a gap of four years and lost to 12-time Roland-Garros champion Rafael Nadal in the semifinal match. This was Federer’s 8th semifinal of the tournament.
Earlier, the 2019 Wimbledon runner-up had also said that he will compete at the Tokyo Olympics after Wimbledon and prior to the US Open.
“We need a vacation, we need a break, and especially if I am playing the Olympics and all that. So I’ll probably play the French, Halle, Wimbledon, the Olympics, and then, maybe Cincinnati and then the US Open,” he added.
Federer has won all four of the Grand Slam tournaments, as well as the ATP Tour Finals six times, but is still waiting to grab the Olympic singles gold. He had won a doubles gold with Stan Wawrinka at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 but was later defeated in the next Olympics in London 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 by Andy Murray.
Meanwhile, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic and Nadal have also confirmed their participation in Tokyo 2020.
It is to note that Nadal currently holds the Roland-Garros and US Open titles, moving onto 19 majors in New York back in September, just one behind Federer’s haul.