Roger Federer withdraws from Roland-Garros

Former world No 1 Roger Federer has decided to withdraw from Roland-Garros following his gruelling third-round win over Dominik Koepfer.

The Swiss played out a match in Saturday’s night session that lasted over three and a half hours en route to a 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 7-5 win.

That followed another four-set encounter with Marin Cilic in the second round.

In a statement, Federer said: “After discussions with my team, I’ve decided I will need to pull out of Roland-Garros today. After two knee surgeries and over a year of rehabilitation it’s important that I listen to my body and make sure I don’t push myself too quickly on my road to recovery. I am thrilled to have gotten three matches under my belt. There is no greater feeling than being back on court.”

Guy Forget, the tournament director, added: “We were all delighted to see Roger back in Paris, where he played three high-level matches. We wish him all the best for the rest of the season.”

Federer had hinted after reaching the fourth round – where he was due to play Matteo Berrettini – that he might not be able to continue in the tournament.

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“We go through these matches, you know, we analyze them highly and look on what’s next and will do the same tonight and tomorrow latest, because I need to decide if I keep on playing or not or is it not too much risk at this moment to keep on pushing or is this just a perfect way to just take a rest,” he said. “Because I don’t have the week in between here and Halle, like normal, to see, like, what’s best now if you count back from Wimbledon and so forth.

“It’s just a lot going on, but having a match like this, knowing I could have probably played a fifth set but not knowing how I will wake up tomorrow is interesting, to say the least. Yeah, it’s definitely a different time right now for me.”