Here we are, six Grand Slams later, I have four of them, plus the Masters Cup, and in other Masters Series events I have four titles Now suddenly I will be the greatest player ever. But he cannot imagine the ATP, who run the men’s tour, taking such strong measures.”Unfortunately, I don’t believe they are going to do the surgery. They might do an aspirin here, an aspirin there to change it.”The 23-year-old Federer has reached the point where he cannot please everybody. Missing the Madrid tournament may be only the start of his readjustments to alleviate the demands on his time, on and off the court.

The tennis calendar is suffocating, and, in spite of endless talk of change, there are few signs that the sport’s various governing bodies are ready to alter the schedule and do some serious pruning.Federer, in common with the most successful players of the open era before him – Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Pete Sampras, Agassi – will plan his year in order to peak at the four Grand Slam championships. To mark his triumphs this year at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, Federer’s shirt, shorts, headband and racket have been put on display at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.On this site after the US Open, Nick Bollettieri, Agassi’s former coach, hailed Federer as the greatest talent tennis has seen. And yet, before he won Wimbledon last year, some observers questioned whether he had the nerve to win a Grand Slam title.”Things have changed a little bit over a year,” Federer says. “After the [2003] French Open, where I lost in the first round, I was sitting in the press room trying to explain why and telling people to relax a little bit, and trying not to put too much pressure on myself. Having already qualified for next month’s Masters Cup in Houston, and being guaranteed to finish the year as world No 1 after winning three of the four Grand Slam singles titles, Federer sent his apologies to Madrid and explained that he needed to rest his mind and body between engagements before competing in Basle this week.He hopes to win his 13th final in a row and his first title in his home town tournament, where he used to be a ballboy. I think a tennis player who makes five, six, seven, eight, 10 million dollars a year should have the decency to make his programme and give back something to the game.”Tiriac advocates that any player who does not fulfil his Masters Series commitments should not be allowed to play in the Masters Cup.

Why is he tired? He should not play so much before a tournament like Madrid And now he plays in Basle That is his home He should play. But something is wrong.”[Michael] Schumacher didn’t stop after six races when he was world F1 champion. He also has a commitment to his Swiss sponsors.Ion Tiriac, who owns the Madrid tournament, was not impressed, particularly since he had already lost the three players ranked immediately below Federer in the rankings, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt and Guillermo Coria.”I appreciate the honesty of Federer, who, as a shot-maker, is the best player I ever saw in my life,” said Tiriac, who has been the manager of Ilie Nastase, Guillermo Vilas, Boris Becker and Goran Ivanisevic “He says, ‘I am tired’. It was, after all, what Scott Gibbs did against England in 1999. But in modern rugby, ignoring an overlap is an even more mortal sin than losing possession.The sad truth is, however, that Thomas kicked two out of five penalties, Gareth Bowen missed one, and Jean-Baptiste Elissalde kicked three out of three for Toulouse Enough said.. Phil Vickery will not be ready for England duty next month, according to Nigel Melville, his Gloucester club manager. Although Vickery was fit enough to play for Gloucester against Stade Fran?s in the Heineken Cup on Saturday, he said yesterday it would be at least two months before he was the “real deal”.Melville said: “It will be a very close call, but I don’t think he’s firing on all cylinders yet It’s not up to me, but I think it’s a big jump.

Looking after No 1 is the only way to stay healthy.
Roger Federer looked after No 1 last week and missed the Madrid Masters, one of the nine major events on the ATP Tour. So I do feel really sorry for people like Stuart Grimes and Tom Smith, who probably will never play Australia at Murrayfield again.”Williams added that Gordon Bulloch, the Glasgow hooker, would be captain for all four games.. Andre Agassi says it Tim Henman says it Every leading tennis player knows it Looking after No 1 is the only way to stay healthy

Andre Agassi says it Tim Henman says it Every leading tennis player knows it. We knew the game was outside the window, but we hoped the value placed on long-term club servants gaining an international cap would have prevailed But they are not going to. It’s hugely disappointing that people wouldn’t allow those players a chance to play for their country.

You shouldn’t go into internationals while managing a rehabilitation programme, and that is what he’s doing.”The Scotland coach, Matt Williams, has said he is “extremely sad” that he will be left without nine players based with English clubs for the first of the autumn Tests against Australia at Murrayfield on 6 November.The match, which unlike Scotland’s other three Tests has been scheduled as a celebration of the new Scottish Parliament, falls outside the window set aside by the International Rugby Board for the Tests and Premiership sides such as Leeds, Newcastle, Northampton, Sale and Worcester have refused to release their Scottish players.Williams said: “It’s an extremely sad day for me and I can’t understand that type of thinking. That was the booing of the new Welsh captain, Gareth Thomas, who was playing for Toulouse in his old position, on the wing (though he was originally a centre), rather than in the position he will presumably occupy for his country at full-back.The Sky commentators, Miles Harrison and Barnes, did not refer to the matter at all: it was as if it was not happening. Nor did another broadcaster raise it when Thomas, with his small son, was interviewed after the match He certainly did not mention it himself. Indeed, he seemed to be in a thoroughly good humour, as well he might have been, having helped to secure an away win in the first stage of the Cup.As far as I could see, he had committed no offence against a Llanelli Scarlets player And yet the boos resounded whenever he touched the ball.