The sixth Masters 1000 event of the year gets underway on August 5 and will be followed by the seventh in Cincinnati.
After losing the Wimbledon final to Novak Djokovic, Federer was asked about his schedule plans heading into the US Open and revealed he had decided not to play at the Rogers Cup in Montreal and instead return to action in Cincinnati.
“Looking ahead, we had decided in the team I was going to skip Montreal anyway already a week ago, just give myself enough time,” he said.
“I wish I had more, but I don’t. I’m just going to take enough time off what I can and prepare for Cincinnati and get going from then on again.”
The absence of arguably the most recognisable sportsman in the world is obviously a blow to the tournament.
But Eugene Lapierre told Tennis World Italia that the rising crop of Canadian stars is set to make up for Federer’s non-appearance.
“We had few expectations about his presence,” he said.
“I had talked to him both before and during Wimbledon and he always said he wanted to accurately select the tournaments to play until the end of the season.
“We knew that if he went to the bottom of Wimbledon, he wouldn’t come.
“It wasn’t a big surprise. But we are selling so many tickets thanks to the appeal generated by young Canadians, mainly Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov.
“I believe the record of 216,000 spectators will be beaten.”
Rafael Nadal is yet to reveal his schedule for the summer after his semi-final exit at the hands of Federer.
Last year, he convincingly beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Rogers Cup final before pulling out of Cincinnati to protect his knee.
However, Lapierre revealed he is in contract with Nadal’s team about returning.
He said: “I’m in contact with his team, he’s the reigning champion and I think he wants to come back.”