While he may be arguably the greatest tennis player of all time, there was a period during Roger Federer’s career when he opted not to play in the Paris Masters due to the surface it used.

This weekend will also see the 2025 edition of the tournament get underway, with the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz, and Ben Shelton all vying for the title. Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic has opted to withdraw from the event.

Federer won the Paris Masters once during his career back in 2011, just another title in his huge collection, which included 20 men’s Grand Slam wins, a feat only topped by rivals Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. However, back in the mid-2000s, Federer chose not to play the Paris Masters for three years due to issues with the carpet surface the tournament used.

After playing in the 2003 edition of the Paris Masters, Federer opted not to play in 2004, 2005, and 2006. He returned in 2007, which saw him beaten in the third round by Argentine David Nalbandian.

Speaking back in 2018, Jean-Francis Caujolle, who took over as the tournament director for the Paris Masters, admitted he had made it a goal of his to bring Federer back to the event, which eventually led to them changing the surface they used.

“It was 2007 and since 2003, Federer hadn’t played the tournament,” Caujolle told L’Equipe. “Then, we put in contact with his team and asked why he wasn’t coming.

“It turned out that he didn’t like the carpet surface we had then at all and advised us to contact an Austrian company, which designed a type of resin similar to that of Vienna. We did this and fulfilled his wishes. We got in contact with the company and changed the surface.”

However, despite the changes, that still didn’t seem to appease Federer, prompting the tournament to further change their surfaces. Caujolle continued: “When he came to Paris, he noticed there wasn’t much difference among surfaces in the circuit and told that it felt like the ones in Indian Wells and Miami, where he had lost twice to Guillermo Canas.

“I started looking for materials to give a lower bounce and turn the game faster. In 2010 we managed to build the fastest court in the world and one that would clearly suit Federer’s game a lot better than Nadal’s.

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“The curious thing was that players like Ljubicic and Isner lost in the first round. The court didn’t seem to favour the big servers but the best volleyers.

“Finally, in 2011 Federer was able to win the tournament. Since then, the court has been slowed down a bit but it’s probably still the fastest on the circuit.”