Federer, 36, has openly admitted that his body can no longer handle the regularity of top-level tennis and he will now have to pick and choose his tournaments.
However, with that in mind, he was still expected to compete in the four seasonal Grand Slam events.
But after winning his 20th major competition at the Australian Open last month, the Swiss star has been tipped to sit out of the French Open.
That is because of Rafael Nadal’s dominance on clay courts.
Of Federer’s Grand Slam wins only one has come in Paris.
In comparison, Nadal has won 10 honours at Roland Garros and if he recovers from his thigh injury, which forced his Australian Open retirement, then he is backed to steam-roll the competition once again by Sports Illustrated’s tennis expert Jon Wertheim.
“My guess: Federer sticks to his plan and again skips clay,” Wertheim told Sports Illustrated.
“The surface asks so much of him physically. And his decision was validated in 2017.
“If I’m him, I’m paying close attention to Nadal.
“If Nadal is healthy and blazing his usual trail through the dirt, I make like Billy Crystal and Forget Paris.
“If Nadal is vulnerable, I think seriously about playing Paris.
“Other than Nadal, who is well positioned to beat Federer in a best-of-five clay match these days?”
The French Open gets underway on May 27 and concludes on June 10.