Federer reveals his blacklist

Roger Federer loves a variety of sports, but it seems that ping pong is the only one he allows himself to play due to risk of injury. Speaking after his quarter-final win at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Federer said that skiing, soccer and squash were all on his banned list. Even the more pedestrian sport of golf is blacklisted.

“To be quite honest, I do miss [skiing]. I used to do it up until a few years ago," Federer said. "Last time I skied was in 2008 when I had mono. Came back after the Australian Open, went skiing, and next day I got ill again. So I was like, Okay, it's a sign for me. No more skiing. That's a pity, but okay, we'll do that.

“Soccer I haven't played much either. I remember when I had the groin issue in Wimbledon. Then I went to Gstaad and I really couldn't move well. I mean, I won the doubles with Safin and stuff. But I went to play soccer that whole week as well and couldn't move at the end. So it was just so silly of me. I did the same with squash as well.”

Federer said that he recently played a round of golf, but even that took its toll on his body. “I played a round of golf with my parents. It was my mom's birthday the other week here, and I went to play on the Emirates Golf Course. It was nice to do, but the same thing again. Next thing you know, your back hurts just a little bit.

“You just don't want to do it, because my body is accustomed to play tennis right now. Honestly, I can wait for many more years until I can do all those sports really well. I actually do miss it to do all those things a bit more often.  I can play ping pong. I can do that.  It's a pity [I can’t play the other sports] but, look, I'll be able to enjoy them much more when I'm done.”

Federer is chasing a fifth title in Dubai. He plays Frenchman Richard Gasquet in Friday's semi-finals, with the winner to play either Novak Djokovic or Tomas Berdych in the final.

Date: 25.02.2011, Source: ATP