Playing into his 30s, Roger Federer wants to make sure that he keeps his body fresh throughout the season to the extent that he already reduced the number of tournaments he's going to compete for him to be in tip-top shape for Grand Slam competition.
After already skipping a big tourney in Miami, Federer appears contemplating on withdrawing from another ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
In a post-match interview after his loss to Gael Monfils 6-4, 7-6 in the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters, Federer isn't quite optimistic about his presence at the Rome Masters, where he reached the finals three times but never won a title up to now.
Federer stressed his participation at the Rome Masters would depend on the number of matches and conditioning in the next two tournaments in Istanbul and Madrid, adding that he wasn't sure of playing in Rome this year in the first place.
"I'm going to go back to Switzerland and practice really hard, you know, from whatever the plan's going to be from tonight on until Istanbul," Federer told reporters. "That's, again, a good time I should utilize in the right way. I'm looking forward to that. I'm playing Istanbul, Madrid. We'll always see what happens with Rome. It was never sure I was going to play that anyway.
Since his triumph at Wimbledon in 2012, Federer hasn't won another major tournament again. The Swiss insisted that winning another Grand Slam title is what keeps him motivated to continue playing to this point of his career.