'It's the smart thing to do': Andy Roddick joins Nadal and Djokovic in providing opinion on Roger Federer

Former world number one Andy Roddick is the latest to weigh in on Roger Federer's decision to skip the French Open in 2017 after his main rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic had their say.

The Swiss ace confirmed his decision to skip the entire clay court swing of the season – the first time since he turned pro in 1998 – earlier in the month in order to prolong his career and focus on the upcoming grass and hard court events.

Federer made a blistering start to the 2017 campaign following his return from a six-month injury absence and won three of the four tournaments he entered. Despite being in top form, the 18-time men's singles Grand Slam champion, decided to skip the clay court tournaments in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome in order to focus on remaining fit for the entire campaign rather than overload his schedule with multiple events.

The 35-year-old was initially scheduled to play at Roland Garros, but eventually decided against it to focus on the grass and hard court tournaments mainly Wimbledon and the US Open. Roddick feels it was the smart thing to do and believes it will help him to prolong his career.

"I think it's the smart thing to do," Roddick said, as quoted by Tennis World USA. "I know some people will be like, 'Well, he can't pull out of Slams, it's not the right thing to do, and we need to see him.' You'll see him more by virtue of him being smart with his scheduling and taking care of his body."

"He was smart about his body. He realizes he's 35 years old and he's not the physical specimen that he was midway through his career. So I think it's smart. I think it's something that I probably saw coming. If you were in a team sport and you could pick and choose your match-ups that best suited you and win championships that way, you would. That's essentially what Roger is doing. I think it's the right move," the American added.