I don't know if I'm going to play, Roger Federer considers pulling out of French Open 2021

Former World No. 1 Roger Federer could pull out of the ongoing French Open if his knee cannot handle the rigorous pressure of the tournament, the Swiss Master said after his win in the third round on Sunday.

The 20-time Grand Slam winner, Federer, took three hours and 39 minutes to beat Dominik Koepfer 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 7-5 and qualify for the fourth round in Paris.

"I don't know if I am going to play. I have to decide whether or not to continue playing. Is it too risky to keep putting pressure on the knee? Is it a good time to rest?" Federer was quoted, as saying in an interview after the fixture at the Philippe Chatrier court.

Federer, who has always priortised Wimbledon over any other Grand Slam, is chasing a ninth title at the All England Club ahead of the 2021 edition that is due to begin on June 28.

Moreover, Federer is also shecheduled to play warm-up grass court tournament in Halle beginning on June 14, the day after the Roland Garros ends.

"Every match I have to reassess the situation and see the next morning in what state I wake up and how my knee is doing. I'd prefer to be in Rafa's or Novak's shoes right now where they're like, 'I'm feeling good. If I'm playing well, I'm winning.' I don't have that feeling right now, so for me these are all stepping stones to something that is really important to me. It's the season, and it's the comeback. I need matches like these," Federer told ATP's official website after his win on Sunday.

Federer, who has played a four-set game in two back-to-back matches now at the French Open, has said that he surprised himself by winning the second-round game against Marin Cilic.

"I thought it was very important for me. I clearly hadn't practised three hours [and] 35 [minutes], because that's obviously always pushing it. I pushed as much as I could, as we thought [was] reasonable. This today was I think a huge step forward for the team, and for all of us. I didn't expect to be able to win three matches here, and sort of back up a good performance [against] Cilic as well in completely different circumstances tonight. So I'm very happy," added Federer.

Even after playing professional tennis for over two decades and winning 100-plus ATP titles, Federer is still learning from new experiences.

"For me to go out tonight, sure, it wasn't easy. It was a lot of [firsts] for me: Playing against Koepfer [in my] first night session here in Paris, the first time [with] no fans in a long, long time, or ever in my career. That was definitely very unique in many ways, and I'm happy I found a way. Also especially emotionally, how do you handle losing that second set? How do you handle to keep pushing yourself on and try to feed off the energy of the team and thinking of all the people watching on TV?

I was really picturing a lot of people on a Saturday night may be checking in on the game and watching some tennis. So in many ways, I was also playing for them and trying to let that inspire me," Federer explained further.

Eighth-seeded Federer will next take on Italy's Matteo Berrettini in the fourth round at the French Open 2021.