FEDERER'S SCHEDULE

The matter of scheduling is topical because Roger Federer revealed last week that he will play in Stockholm in October, which means that, back-to-back over four weeks, he intends to play ATP tournaments in Stockholm, Madrid, Basel (his hometown) and Paris [These are all year end, indoor tournaments].

Federer is automatically entered in Madrid and Paris because they are Masters Series events and must play both to be eligible for year-end bonus pool money. In 2007, for finishing No. 1, that amounted to $1.5 million (U.S.), a sum that even Federer would not want to refuse.

SUMMER SCHEDULE

Currently on a five-week break after losing to Djokovic in the Australian Open semi-finals on January 25, Federer will return to action in two weeks in Dubai.

He has a residence there, which partly explains why he plays the event.

That will begin a period of intense activity, which includes an exhibition match against Pete Sampras at Madison Square Garden in New York on March 10 (two days after the final in Dubai) and then the Pacific Life Open starting later that same week in Indian Wells, Calif., followed by the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami five or six days after the final in Indian Wells.

Federer has also added a clay-court event, Estoril, Portugal, to his usual run-up (Monte Carlo, Rome and Hamburg) to the French Open. That means that in the 17 weeks between Dubai and the end of Wimbledon on July 7, he plans to take off only four weeks.