Federer releases 2013 ATP schedule: Miami, Basel missing
Roger Federer released his 2013 schedule and will skip the Sony Open in Miami, an ATP Masters event. (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Roger Federer posted his 2013 schedule on his official website and there's one significant tournament missing: the Sony Open in Miami, an ATP Masters 1000 event.
Beginning next year, Federer will enjoy complete exemption from the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 player commitment, meaning he can choose to skip as many mandatory Masters tournaments as he wants. The exemption stems from Rule 1.08 in the ATP rulebook, which reduces a player's Masters commitment by one tournament for reaching each of the following milestones:
1) Has played 600 career matches.
2) Has 12 years of service.
3) Is 31 years of age.
Once a player reaches all three milestones, he has complete exemption from the Masters commitments. That's where Federer finds himself next year, and why he can skip those events without penalty.
On his website, Federer lists his 14-event 2013 schedule. Of course all the Grand Slams are there, but Federer will not play the hard-court Miami event and, as of now, will not play his hometown event in Basel. Here's the Swiss champion's complete schedule:
Australian Open, Melbourne
ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, Rotterdam
Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Dubai
BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells
Mutua Madrid Open, Madrid
Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Rome
Roland Garros, Paris
Gerry Weber Open, Halle
Wimbledon
Rogers Cup, Montreal
Western & Southern Open, Cincinnati
U.S. Open, New York
Shanghai Rolex Masters, Shanghai
BNP Masters , Paris
While his decision to skip Basel is understandable given recent reports of a personal dispute with the tournament director, he still has plenty of time to make up his mind about that event as the year (and negotiations) progresses. (There have already been reports that he'll reach an agreement in time to play Basel next year.)
So the only real surprise is Federer's decision to skip Miami. From a practical point of view it makes sense, as Federer will play a fairly heavy spring schedule, with the Australian Open, Davis Cup (potentially), Rotterdam, Dubai and then Indian Wells. Skipping Miami would give him a six-week break until his clay season begins in Madrid. And given his split with IMG this year, he has no vested interest in supporting the IMG-backed tournament. Federer also chose to skip the Abu Dhabi exhibition in December, another IMG-organized event, for the first time since its inception in 2009.
