Roger Federer has had a pretty decent 2018, winning the Australian Open along with titles in Stuttgart and Rotterdam. He was expected to successfully defend his Wimbledon title but went down in the quarter-finals to Kevin Anderson.
The 36 year old Federer who has won 20 Grand Slams in his career till date has received criticism from former Swiss Davis Cup team member Claudio Mezzadria who said that Federer did not play as well as he could have at Wimbledon because he is playing far too many tournaments as he wants to make as much money as possible.
Federer is the highest paid tennis player of all time with winnings in excess of $117 million. This is not counting the amount of revenue he generates each year in terms of his sponsorship deals and advertisements. Just to give you an idea of what kind of revenue that brings him, the tennis great made an additional $58 million in 2016 from this avenue.
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Mezzadria is certainly not ignorant of the fact that Federer is very wealthy and hence it is surprising to see him make these claims.
You have to make these choices also depending on the money that comes because he is very motivated to play. The ideal would have been to play just one tournament before Wimbledon, but he went to Stuttgart as well, he won and so he didn't need Halle anymore. I thought he was ready after Stuttgart. And in Halle, as a matter of fact, he wasn't that brilliant. He didn't have a perfect schedule, he played a little bit too much
What makes Mezzadria’s claims interesting is the fact that Roger Federer who was scheduled to play at the Rogers Cup in Toronto decided to pull out. The tournament starts on August 4 and some of the best players in the world will take part as they prep for the 2018 U.S Open.
Federer said that he decided to pull out last minute because he did feel that his scheduling was a little to packed at the moment and for him to prolong his career meant that he would have to be wise in picking and choosing what tournaments he plays going forward. Federer’s decision does seem to back up some of Mezzadria’s claims, especially of him playing a little too much.
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