Roger Federer reveals plans after decision to skip Dubai Open was confirmed

Roger Federer has opted to skip the Dubai Tennis Championships following his triumph at the Rotterdam Open on 18 February and will next return to the courts at the Indian Wells Masters in March.

The Dubai tournament director confirmed on Friday (24 February) that the Swiss ace has made the decision to skip the event despite being a regular in recent years. Federer has won the Dubai Tennis Championships a record seven times.

Salah Talak revealed that Federer plans to spend the week with his family before heading to the United States to defend the sunshine double he won in 2017 at the Masters Series events in Indian Wells and Miami.

"I have been in touch with his agent and the last time we spoke he informed me that Federer would rather spend some quality time at home with his wife and kids than make the trip to Dubai," Tahlak told Gulf News.

"He also said that this decision from the world No 1 has nothing to do with Dubai, but it's simply because he doesn't want to take any chances during the build-up to his defence of the two titles in Indian Wells and Miami."

Federer has other plans during the week of the Dubai tournament. He confirmed on Friday that he will be travelling to Monaco for the Laureus World Sports Awards. Federer has been nominated in two categories at the prestigious award show – Sportsman of the Year and Comeback of the Year.

The 36-year-old will battle for the former with long-time rival Rafael Nadal, football star Cristiano Ronaldo, four-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton, Olympic gold medal winning athlete Mo Farah and cyclist Chris Froome.

"Excited to be heading to Monaco for the Laureus Sports Awards! Good luck to all the Nominees, see you next week," Federer wrote via his official Twitter account.