Roger Federer finally is acting his age.
Tennis.com reported that the No. 2-ranked and 33-year-old Federer talked about his decision to skip the Miami Masters last month as part of a plan to get more rest between major events in 2015.
He told tennis.com that he felt he played too many events last year.
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"For me it was important because of what happened last year, how many tournaments I played," Federer said. "I didn't base this [Miami] decision on what I wanted to do this clay-court season. It was almost something I had to do, but also wanted to do after playing so much last year and going from one tournament to the next."
The plan is a departure from what Federer originally planned at the end of 2014. He told Perth News in December that he planned to play the Australian Open and then evaluate whether he wanted to add tournaments to his schedule.
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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..
"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 has had strong results in 2015; he won in Brisbane and Dubai and advanced to the finals of Indian Wells last month, where No. 1 Novak Djokovic avenged his Dubai final loss to Federer.
But the one bad result this year came at the season's first Grand Slam; he lost in the third round to Andreas Seppi, a player he had entered the match having beaten 10 straight times. Federer also failed to reach the semifinals of the event for the first time in 11 years.
Federer had a 73-12 match record in 2014, his most matches since 2006 when he went 92-5.
He told tennis.com that he plans to do more off-court work between tournaments, potentially skipping another event.
"And after sporadic fitness and rest, I wanted to do it more in blocks," he said. "That's why I'm happy I got a vacation behind me. In terms of fitness, I really needed a block, and I'll do that again after Monaco when I come to Switzerland, then I might do some more after Madrid. We'll see about Rome. That's the plan, and I think that will work well ahead at the French Open, Wimbledon and beyond."
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