Roger Federer put of the French Open with back injury

Roger Federer is out of the French Open due to injury, ending an astonishing run of consecutive Grand Slams.

Roger Federer has been involved in the main singles draw of every grand-slam tournament this century. Picture: Getty

Even Roger Federer, the man with more grand-slam singles titles to his name than any other, is not immune from the effects of advancing age. Three months before his 35th birthday and after playing in 65 consecutive grand-slam tournaments, an aching back means that he will have to sit out the French Open.

Federer, who four months ago reached the semi-final of the Australian Open, has been involved in the main singles draw of every grand-slam tournament this century.

However, 2016 has been a catalogue of pain for him. After injuring his left knee while bathing his twin sons the day after extending Novak Djokovic, the world No 1, to four sets in Melbourne and requiring arthroscopic surgery on torn cartilage, he was forced to withdraw from his comeback tournament in Miami because of a stomach virus. His back has been a concern through the European clay-court season and, after withdrawing from the Mutua Madrid Open, he admitted to being below par last week at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.

“I have been making steady progress with my overall fitness but I am still not 100 per cent and feel I might be taking an unnecessary risk by playing in this event before I am really ready,” Federer wrote on his Facebook page yesterday (Thursday).

“This decision was not easy to make, but I took it to ensure I could play the remainder of the season and help to extend the rest of my career. I remain as motivated and excited as ever and my plan is to achieve the highest level of fitness before returning for the grass-court season. I am sorry for my fans in Paris but I very much look forward to returning to Roland Garros in 2017.”

Federer, who has won 17 grand-slam titles, gave himself every opportunity of playing at Roland Garros. He travelled to Paris, practised on Court Philippe Chatrier and even asked Guy Forget, the new tournament director, for as late a start as possible. But yesterday Federer came to the realisation that his efforts were in vain.

There was compassion for Federer from Andy Murray, who missed the 2013 French Open with lower back pain. “It will be interesting to see for how long the injury keeps returning and it’s probably not an easy injury to come back from,” Murray said.

Shamil Tarpishchev, the head of the Russian Tennis Federation, has attempted to backtrack on suggestions he made that Maria Sharapova’s failed doping test could spell the end of her career. He reportedly told the Russian news agency R-Sport that her situation was “bad” and it was “very doubtful” that she would resume her career.

Sharapova remains suspended from competition pending a ruling from the International Tennis Federation and will not figure in this morning’s draw for the French Open, a tournament she has won twice.

Tarpishchev later clarified his statement. “I only said that she can’t play now because no ruling on her case has been issued,” he said.

The Times