The Swiss acts tactically and did a major operation in the summer of 2016 and missed the Olympics in Rio de Janerio, which meant he hoped to extend his career for one or two years. Now it's been 3.5 years and Federer is still a name to count on even though the latest Grand Slam win came more than two years ago in Australia.

Prior to this year's Australian Open, Federer came directly to the tournament, without having played any of the warm-up tournaments, and even went to the seminar where he was without chance against the final winner Novak Djokovic. Prior to that, Federer had not played since the ATP playoffs in London in mid-November.

Seven weeks' rest before Paris

Federer has a couple of tournaments scheduled in the near future but will be rested when French Open starts in Paris at the end of May. The final competition for the gravel classic will be Miami Master, which will be played from March 25 to April 5.

- As the planning looks, he will only play Roland Garros, agent Tony Godsick tells Reuters.

This means that Federer waives the major gravel competitions in Madrid and Rome.

Federer has a win in the French Open. That's when he beat Robin Söderling in the final of 2009.