The Swiss Roger Federer announced that this year he will not participate again in the clay court season, including Roland Garros, despite having lost in the 1,000 Masters of Miami the number one of the ATP in favor of the Spanish Rafael Nadal.

“I have decided that I will not play the clay court season,” he said at a press conference after losing in the second round in Miami 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) to Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis, 175 of the ATP. . The Swiss needed to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament to secure the number one until after the ground season, which also did not participate last year.

The champion in Miami in 2005, 2006 and 2017, when he defeated Nadal, absent this year in the last tournament in Cayo Vizcaíno, will deliver the number one to Spanish in the coming days.

Federer, who regained the number one ATP on February 19, had delayed the announcement of his decision not to participate in Roland Garros and the rest of the claycourt tournaments, in which, not having participated in the year past, could easily add a few points that would guarantee leadership in the ATP. But, the champion of 20 Grand Slam tournaments said he does not “deserve” to be number one after a match like the one against Kokkinakis. “This is how I feel, this bad,” he said. “I will take a break, and when I go back to training I will give one hundred percent,” said a Federer who was shown down during the press conference.

He acknowledged that he was “sad and a bit frustrated”, especially because of the image shown on the Vigocano central track, where he did not find the “way” to win. “I did not feel well, my movements were not working at all and I felt that the third set could be very complicated,” he said. “Every time I felt with options, something bad happened, or I made a bad decision, or he took it well, who knows. I was paying the price of the opportunities I lost, “he said. Federer said it was “disappointing” not to be at the level with which he was “happy until today”.
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On his rival, he said he is a “good boy” and was happy that this victory is a “great result for his career.” «It was a little better than me today. I was more relaxed, “he said.