Roger Federer to play the clay-court season? World No 1 reveals when he will make schedule decision

World number one Roger Federer has refused to rule out the possibility of featuring during the clay-court season this year.

Federer experienced a remarkable career resurgence last year when he won the Australian Open, his first Grand Slam since 2012, before going on to win titles in Indian Wells and the Miami Open.

The Swiss legend then made the controversial decision to skip the entire clay-court season in a bid to manage his fitness and prolong his game time throughout the year.

The decision reaped benefits as despite Rafael Nadal's success on clay, Federer eventually returned to action during the grass-court season, winning titles at Halle and a record-breaking eighth Wimbledon crown before closing the year with victories in Shanghai and Basel to end the year with a Tour-leading seven titles in total.

Having repeated the beginning of last year with a second consecutive Australian Open win last month and achieving the feat of becoming the oldest world number one in tennis history at the Rotterdam Open, the 36-year-old now has to make a decision on whether he will skip the clay-court season again.

While many expect Federer to replicate last year's performance, he has surprisingly claimed he will think about his participation and make the decision after Indian Wells.

"It could be," Federer told Noz when asked if featuring at the French Open was a possibility, as per Express.

"But I have to think twice, because there are also two pad changes. Last year I did not play a Grand Slam for the first time, even though I was fit.

"It looks like I'm going to play less on sand. But the decision will only be made after Indian Wells."

Indian Wells — also known as the BNP Paribas Open — will take place from 5-18 March next month with Federer defending 1000 points after his victory over Stan Wawrinka in the final last year.