The coronavirus pandemic has halted the official tennis tournaments ever since early March, canceling Wimbledon and all other events until August. After Acapulco, Dubai and Santiago at the end of February, the players gathered in Indian Wells ahead of the first Masters 1000 tournament of the season.
They had to leave California after just a couple of days as the organizers had to cancel the competition, followed by the same move from the Miami Open and all the tournaments scheduled for April, May, June and July. The ATP has decided to freeze the ranking list and keep all the points the players had gathered before Indian Wells and prepare for a fresh start when the virus allows that.
The 38-year-old Roger Federer will remain in the top-4 until then, losing one place on the list to Dominic Thiem after the Australian Open but staying among the world’s best players.
Federer embraced another rock-solid season in 2019, winning four ATP titles in Dubai, Miami, Halle and Basel, defending the place in the top-3 behind Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic and keeping much younger opponents behind him.
Roger extended his record as the oldest Masters 1000 champion in Miami after beating John Isner, playing well on clay after staying away from it in the last three years, reaching the semi-final at Roland Garros and gathering momentum ahead of the grass season.
On his beloved surface, Federer conquered Halle and advanced into the final at beloved Wimbledon, 16 years after the first one! The Swiss squandered two match points against Novak Djokovic, recovering from that setback to claim the title in front of the home crowd in Basel and advancing into the semi-final at the ATP Finals.
Seeking more time on the practice court, Federer skipped the ATP Cup at the beginning of 2020 to prepare for the Australian Open that saw him reaching another semi-final at Majors. Roger struggled with a groin injury in Melbourne and, as we would find out, knee issues that forced him to undergo surgery in February, planning to make a comeback in June for Halle and Wimbledon.
With the grass season closing its doors due to the virus, the Swiss will try to make a comeback at the US Open if the organizers manage to hold it in New York in September, not rushing anything and not signing for any exhibition events so far.
Novak Djokovic’s coach Goran Ivanisevic said that Roger Federer made a perfect timing with that surgery, missing no action and having enough time to recover and start all over if the season resumes according to the plans.
