Federer makes repeat plea for longer off-season

Roger Federer today repeated his call for a detailed look at a longer ATP off-season, saying that a month of down time is just not enough.

Roger Federer on Tuesday repeated his call for a detailed look at a longer ATP off-season, saying that a month of down time is just not enough.

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A fortnight after making a similar plea, the president of the ATP Player Council looks to be in a position to influence the outcome of decisions at closed-door meetings this month at the World Tour Finals in London.

"Four weeks is just not an off-season, really," said the Swiss, top seed at this week's Paris Masters. "Six weeks I think is much better.

"You can take two weeks off, practise for four weeks, which is a lot for us in our world. I hope tournaments understand it's in their best interest, as well, I think."

The issue of an 11-month season is a constant theme in tennis, with ATP boss Adam Helfant saying last month in Tokyo that he could somehow cut the season without sacking any tournaments.

That could likely only be done by cramming three or four smaller events into the same tournament week.

"Obviously some tournaments have to be a little bit flexible," hinted Federer. "I think over the years we've lost a couple of weeks here and there because of some reasons.