Roger Federer decision to forgo French Open was easy one to make in quest for 18th Grand Slam

Time and tide wait for no sportsman. Apart from the artful Roger.

For a figure who has made a career out of immaculate timing, it is playing a dangerous game to suggest Roger Federer, even at the ripe old tennis age of 34, is struggling to conquer Old Father time.

In fact, it would be as foolhardy as trying to rush to the net behind a short return of serve against the lithe Swiss artisan, a character as tough as teak yet as user friendly as titanium and more mobile than his Rolex watch, to suggest he is somehow on the way out because he suddenly has to listen to his body. This is a figure who remains an innovator both on and off the court.

If Federer is not feeling fit enough to cope with the excruciating demands of a fortnight against the dirt ballers on the clay of Roland Garros and the toll that may take on his back, he is wise to take a time out.

With the green and blue courts of Wimbledon and the US Open remaining this season, one could argue that Federer is merely sacrificing his pride for the bigger picture of what could lie ahead later in the season. Federer has never been short on common sense.

Attempting to extend a record run of 65 straight appearances at Grand Slams – a roll call that ran between 1999 until 2016 – brings with it no prizes. Shying away from the French could.

Let us not forget that Federer has only lifted the French Open once back in 2009, but that was perhaps only because Robin Soderling did the dirty work for him by mugging his nemesis Rafael Nadal in the fourth round. This is despite Federer being arguably among the top five clay-court specialists in the history of his sport.

Federer knocked up for around 20 minutes with coach Ivan Ljubicic on the practice courts at Roland Garros on Thursday before saying pas plus. His ego may hurt as much as his back.

Federer is as reliable as a Basel bank, but this was no time no cheat himself, far less the fans. His wise interlude will allow him to regain peak condition for the challenges that lie ahead at Wimbledon in June/July and the US Open in August/September, the two Grand Slams, seven in London and five in New York, where he has enjoyed most success in his life’s works of 17 trophies at the majors. If he succeeds, only Ken Rosewall would lie ahead of him in the oldest winner of a Slam. It is a target worth swatting for.

Federer suffered defeat to Dominic Thiem in the third round of the Rome Masters last week after missing the Madrid Masters with a back issue that has annoyed him rather than wounded his gait over the past few seasons. But we have been here before when he opted out of the World Tour final with Novak Djokovic in London back in the death throes of 2014 citing back problems before rebooting to carry off the Davis Cup with Switzerland a week later.

He of course underwent minor knee surgery for the first time in his gilded career after losing to Djokovic in the Australian Open last four back in January, but that has not proved corrosive in ending his astonishing time at the summit that last saw him miss one of the four major tournaments at the US Open in 1999, when he was half his age and failed to qualify for the main draw.

Novak Djokovic’s father, Srdjan apparently earlier this year wondered why Federer continues to play tennis at the age of 34. When you luxuriate in such glorious method, and his ability to refrain from serious injury by a training regime apparently designed for gymnasts, you can only wonder: why not?

When he returns to the grass courts, perhaps at Halle in mid-June, he will have played only 15 competitive matches this season. Yet that may prove to be beneficial for a creaking back, and for a figure who has earned the right to pick and choose his moments. Time will not wither him even if Djokovic does.

For Roger Federer, absence should make the heart grow stronger.