Federer to play Brisbane January 2014

ATP website says Federer will play Brisbane which actually starts on December 29 2013. This seems to scotch any rumours that he is going to retire at the end of this year, although, no doubt, there will now be speculation that 2014 will be his final year.
   Thoughts?

Will make it a bit harder for Andy to three-peat his title...

I don't think any of us expected Fed to retire at the end of this season - I believe him when he says the objective is to win the Olympics in 2016, although clearly there has to be a question over whether he will be good enough and healthy enough to actually do so.

The change of racquet certainly suggests some thinking about his future over the course of the next couple of seasons, not just a career-ending swing through lesser tournaments.

Federer as expected will give one big push in 2014 and might retire, I doubt he will stay that long till 2016.

I am glad to see his desire to continue. Speculation about his retirement is a disservice to Federer and his achievements. He will retire when he wants. Media is a blood hound, you start losing matches, and all your prior wins seem to lose their luster for the media, such is short-termism in the journalistic world.

Roger Federer counters comments made by John McEnroe and Andre Agassi that this is the toughest era in men's tennis, with the so-called Big Four of Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray winning almost every significant tournament.

“I'd say no, but I don't know,” Federer told reporters. “Just because you look back maybe 15 years, then you have Sampras, Edberg, Becker, and Agassi, I don't know who else. Those guys weren't good or what? You look back, further back, 20 years, and you have the Connors and the Lendls. Those weren't good either? I mean, I don't know.  So for me I think that's respectful.

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2012/08/federer-big-four-maybe-not-best-ever/39039/#.UfAs8haWeOk

Interesting comments from Federer, not a completely cohesive comment as I don't think those guys best overlapped long enough to be called an "era".

Always said Federer deserves to go out when he wants to. No one deserves to be shoved off just because the public doesn't want to see him lose more often than he used to. Hope he can get that Olympic gold in Rio, already saving up for it, so who knows might see him get there!

The new racquet, the smaller tourneys, the introspection

“Clearly I’ve been asking myself questions of how can I get out of, I wouldn’t call it a slump because I did win Halle in between, and I know that the game’s just around the corner,” he said. “It’s just important that I take the right decisions, how to move forward from here and then how I bounce back, because usually when things don’t go so well I find a way, and that’s what I’m looking for right now.”

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2013/07/30/Gstaad-Monday-Federer-Returns.aspx

reminds me of golfers, who start playing alone, as the years go by, and the competition comes more from inside, as does motivation.

If you changed the face, I see a certain 'Muscles' Rosewall, pounding the courts, for the love of the sport, till the absolute last minute. He still goes to Rakuten every year, to visit his Mecca. Perhaps Federer will make Wimbledon his.

A certain Nadal, who keeps rising from injuries, the sport of Tennis has always been glorious, and always will be.

Kings and Princes leave their prints on the pages of Tennis history, and they always. Federer and his peers are a glorious chapter in the saga of Tennis. May we all live to see many more.

I am certain someone will have to break Djokovic's fingers on his deathbed to take away his racquet.

Murray already gave up his 'Fro to be a part of such history, like Samson.