Skipping half a season to heal and rejuvenate a tour-weary body is not a decision any athlete takes lightly in the latter stages of their career.
Given his injury-marred exit in the semi-finals of last year’s Championships, even Roger Federer’s most ardent believers felt the writing may have been on the wall for the 35-year-old.
It had been four years since his last Grand Slam triumph. What a defiant and unexpected resurgence 2017 has proven to be.
An 18th Grand Slam title Down Under was a bolt from the blue; a surprise even to the No.17 seed.
More fearless aggression and a newfound belief when the chips were down against his greatest tormentor over the years, Rafael Nadal, were evident in a five-set final.
His dominance over the Spaniard on hard courts extended to Indian Wells and Miami where further titles ensued. So it came as little wonder the astute Swiss opted to sit out the entire clay court swing.
Federer, instead, was planning an “epic” second half to the season on surfaces where his abilities are maximised.
“I think at the end of the day that was the decision for me … no compromise really,” Federer said. “Gave myself the best chance for the grass, so I would never look back and have regrets once I came here.
“I was ready to play in Paris. I just didn't feel ready to go yet, to come back in Madrid or Rome.
“I just felt like, you know what, anything other than winning there feels like I'm not giving myself the best chance for Wimbledon.
“We all felt the same way, that it's better to save myself and give it all I have for the rest of the season, not just the grass court season, but looking beyond that, too, all the way to the American summer, staying on a fast court tennis sort of mindset.”
Milos Raonic ended Federer’s run in the semi-finals last year and the pair could again meet in the quarter-finals this year.
Ever the svelte mover on court, when Federer fell to his knee attempting to make a volley in his match against the Canadian, his body was sending him a clear message. It would be his last match of the season.
“My knee was bad the entire grass court season,” Federer said. “The fall just really scared me. Maybe I wasn't able to move properly. Maybe I would have been broken anyway. Even if it's a totally healthy knee, there's no deciding I'm going to break Milos [Raonic].
“Very quickly the [decision] was to have at least sort of four months [off]. If we wanted to get full healing and full strength back, unfortunately that's what it was going to take. Soon after we went down that route. Thank God, no regrets there.”
An early defeat against good friend, veteran Tommy Haas, in Stuttgart leading in was no cause for alarm. He romped to a record ninth title in Halle, completely dismantling young gun Alexander Zverev for the loss of just four games in the final. The match was even more lop-sided than the scoreline suggested.
Still Federer regarded the German among the five best players under 30 capable of shaking up the Federer, Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka Grand Slam dominance of the past decade.
“I think that Zverev and Nick Kyrgios have shown what they can do, how good they can be,” Federer said. “You know, the likes of Raonic and Kei Nishikori and Grigor Dimitrov, I think, are in a good spot right now where, you know, they can go very deep and nobody would really be surprised.
“Away from those five players, I'm not sure how deep we're talking about. Are we talking about winning Wimbledon? That's going to be obviously a long shot.”
The same could have been said of Federer’s future Wimbledon chances after last year’s departure. What a game-changer 2017 has been.
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