Former champion Roger Federer withdrew from the French Open on Thursday, citing fitness issues, as his record run of appearing at 65 consecutive grand slam tournaments came to an end.
The 34-year-old world number three’s appearance at Roland Garros had been in doubt after he missed the Madrid Open with back problems and suffered an early defeat at the Italian Open in the build-up to the claycourt major he won in 2009.
The last time the 17-times grand slam champion was absent from one of the sport’s four majors was at the 1999 U.S. Open.
“I regret to announce that I have made the decision not to play in this year’s French Open,” father of four Federer said in a message posted on Facebook.
Soon, #WhenFedererLastMissedASlam started trending too:
Well, the irony is #WhenFedererLastMissedASlam, there was no Twitter to make these fancy hashtags.
Featured image source: AFP
