It's a minor cancellation that potentially has major implications for Roger Federer.
Tennis.com reported that Federer released his 2015 schedule through Wimbledon, and he has decided against playing the Miami Open (formerly the Sony Open) in Key Biscayne, Fla., from March 23-April 5.
Aging Roger Federer to increase workload in 2015?
The eye-opening part of Federer's decision to skip the event comes from his agent, Tony Godsick, who cited "physical preservation."
"It's unfortunate because Roger loves Miami and has had success there, but he turns 34 this year and he just can't play every tournament," Godsick said, according to the Miami Herald. "He has to play a schedule that works for him physically, that makes sense with his family, so he had to change it up."
Roger Federer said he doesn't read anything into his early Australian Open exit
As late as December, Federer said he was contemplating whether to add matches because he believed his rigorous schedule helped his resurgence in 2014 from No. 8 to No. 2 in the world.
"People are always going to talk me down ... 'He is old and not so fit anymore', but I feel I have never cramped on court, I am one of the fittest guys on the tour - I back myself (to win),'' Federer said in December. "This year I was close. Novak (Djokovic) played well at Wimbledon (beating Federer in an epic, five-set match) and (Marin) Cilic was on fire at the U.S. Open (in their semifinal). The others, I really created opportunities."
Federer also skipped Miami in 2013, but that was part of his injury-plagued season that led his fall to No. 8.
Federer will turn 34 in August, and it would be easy to see why such a veteran tennis player would want to conserve his energy.
But this is Federer we're talking about.
He did add in December that he would determine after the Australian Open whether he would add more tournaments. But his third-round loss to Andreas Seppi - player he'd beaten in all 10 previous matches - in Melbourne may have made him reassess.
Because of his year-end schedule in 2014 - including the ATP World Tour Finals, the Davis Cup final and an appearance in India for a start-up team league - Federer's 2014 didn't really end until January of 2015.
He said he never felt right on the day of the match with Seppi, and that could've been the fatigue of a grueling season that set in - which may have forced him to reassess.
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