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Roger Federer
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IAN LANGSDON / EPA
The Swiss tennis star Roger Federer foregoes the round of 16 at the French Open after his difficult four-set win over Dominik Koepfer.
Before that, Federer only had the 7: 6 (7: 5), 6: 7 (3: 7), 7: 6 (7: 4), 7: 5 success against the German number three on Sunday night at about 0.45 a.m. had done perfectly.
"After discussions with my team, I decided to withdraw from the French Open," said Federer in a statement on Twitter.
He is happy to be back on the field after two knee operations and a good year break and to have successfully played three matches.
The 20-time Grand Slam winner Federer is playing his first major tournament since the Australian Open 2020 in Paris. Federer had indicated that the clay court season is more of a preparation for Wimbledon.
Shortly after his victory over Koepfer, Federer toyed with the idea of slowing down: “I have to decide whether to continue playing or not, or is it too risky to put too much strain on my knee? Is it a perfect time to take a break? «, Said the 39-year-old with a view to a possible round of 16 against the Italian Matteo Berrettini on Monday. "Having a match like this, knowing that I could probably have played a fifth set, but not knowing how I'll wake up tomorrow, is interesting to say the least."
He would rather be in the shoes of Rafael Nadal or Novak Djoković, prefer to have the feeling: "I feel good, when I play well, I also win," said Federer.
"I don't have that feeling right now, so for me these are all small steps on the way to something that is really important to me."
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