see you tomorrow mimi, general nekromanta, general masterclass, general fed fan, and the others.
general masterclass: check out tennis.com front page. there is an article on fed skipping indian wells in 2013. he is skipping monte carlo and basel as well if i remember correctly. he is making all the right adjustments to keep himself healthy and fit.
have a good night sports fans. 
Hi all!
General Hercules , yes, now that Federer turned 31 (and has the other two requirements, years played and matches played), he qualifies for the full exemption from the masters 1000 commitment, meaning he can skip tournaments as he likes. However, to qualify for the big bonus pool (he earned 1 million dollar bonus this year) at the end of the year, he has to play in at least
5 masters 1000 events. Yet, he's still scheduled for
7. I think Montreal and Shanghai are expendable if he is tired from Wimbledon and the US Open and wants more rest. Shanghai is a long way to travel for one tournament. You're right, it appears he's scheduling to keep himself healthy and strong. It's evident he wore himself out a bit in the push to get Wimbledon, #1, and an Olympic medal this past year. After winning his 6th title of the year in Cincinnati, he didn't win another, though he was in two finals (Basel and WTF). With his two other finals in Halle and the Olympics, he was quite close to winning 10 titles this year... Well a silver medal almost counts as a title.
He's skipping Miami (not IW), mostly because as we saw this year, it was just 1 tournament too much for him in a row. Also, it is probably one of the worst hard courts in terms of conditions for him recently, he hasn't had good results lately, and the IMG group is associated with it (he's no longer associated with them - slight falling out). So many reasons, and it gives him a good rest after the beginning push of the year.
He's skipping Doha, because I believe it's a bit too cold there at night, and early this year he started to have his back problems there if you recall, where he had to withdraw.
Notice he has also not scheduled his home tournament in Basel. This is a chess move for him for more reasons than money. It's now the Basel tournament's director's move. So he's scheduled to play:
December: Gillette exhibition tour in South America (probably Tsonga, Bellucci, Del Potro, maybe Kuerten (if his hip is ok) )
January-MarchAustralian Open - ITF Grand Slam event - 2000Rotterdam - ATP 500 - defends
Dubai - ATP 500 - defends
Indian Wells - ATP Masters 1000 - defendsmid March - AprilHoliday and intense training practice/preparation for clay.May-JuneMadrid - ATP Masters 1000 - defendsRome - ATP Masters 1000Roland Garros - ITF Grand Slam event - 2000June-early JulyHalle - ATP 250 - training preparation for grass and WimbledonWimbledon - ITF Grand Slam event - 2000 - defendsearly July - early AugustHoliday - training practice/prepartion for Summer Hard courtsAugust - early SeptemberMontreal - ATP Masters 1000 Cincinnati - ATP Masters 1000 - defends US Open - ITF Grand Slam - 2000early September - early OctoberHoliday-training, practice for fall
October-NovemberShanghai - ATP Masters 1000Paris - ATP Masters 1000World Tour Final (if qualified) - Masters Year End Championships 1500Respectfully,
masterclass
