French Open Withdrawal Forcing Fans to Reconcile with Tennis After Roger Federer

Roger Federer's withdrawal from the 2016 French Open serves as a preview of the inevitable. One day he will retire. This is just a dress rehearsal. 

The real deal promises to be far more depressing and much more formal than a Facebook post. 

In a statement released via his Facebook page, Federer told his fans, "I have been making steady progress, but I am still not 100 percent...I feel I might be taking an unnecessary risk by playing in this event before I am really ready. This decision was not easy to make, but I took it to ensure I could play the remainder of the season and help to extend the rest of my career."

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The last time @rogerfederer did not play a Major (1999 US Open), average gallon of gas was $1.23 and "Genie in a Bottle" was No. 1 song.

— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) May 19, 2016"

His withdrawal ends his streak of 65 consecutive Grand Slam appearances. It also reminds his fans that his career is coming to an end. No, it's not ending next week. It might not even end next year. But the end is near. 

Yeah, they know this. It doesn't mean his fans are ready to accept it. But the signs are increasing in frequency and severity. So is the dread. 

When Federer announced in February that he would undergo knee surgery: groan. Then he withdrew from Indian Wells and Madrid. Ugh. 

Now this. Federer missing a Slam? Oh no! 

He's bounced back from injury before. However, as BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller noted, the former world No. 1 is getting older and issues are mounting.  

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It has been a phenomenally frustrating year for Federer, who has played only four events because of his back, a bout of flu and the knee cartilage he tore when running his twins a bath. He does not normally need many matches to play himself back into form after a break, but he will be 35 in August, and it was a back injury which caused him lengthy problems throughout 2013.

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It's hard to imagine tennis without Federer. So much of the game's past and future are defined by Federer's career. He provides a bridge to Pete Sampras-Andre Agassi days. Federer's style of play, even his one-handed backhand, reminds us of a bygone era.

Yet he's also the chief rival to the current No. 1 Novak Djokovic and the reigning clay-court king Rafael Nadal. 

Younger players like Grigor Dimitrov patterned their game after Federer's.

JACQUES DEMARTHON/Getty Images

More than anything, Federer's been consistently awesome. Even in this off year, he's still ranked No. 3. Players like David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, all one-time Grand Slam finalists, would give anything to get back to the finals. 

Federer reached the finals twice last year. Slam-less since 2012, Federer is perhaps the only 34-year-old who would look back on that type of season with a hint of disappointment. 

As dominant as Djokovic has been, he's still not etched in the hearts of fans in the same way as Federer. 

Reliable, dependable and beloved, Federer has become a fixture in tennis. He was 18 when he last missed a Grand Slam. As FiveThirtyEight's Carl Bialik wrote, Federer's streak of consecutive Slam appearances represents "a stretch that encompasses fully one-third of the history of Open-era men’s tennis."

A Grand Slam without Federer just seems not quite right.

Mardy Fish tweeted, "Let's go ahead and cancel the event and all go golfing." 

Make no mistake, this announcement is no swan song. Federer told fans he's committed to finishing the rest of the season.

Peter Bodo, a tennis columnist for ESPN, believes Federer might be preserving his body for a run at Wimbledon and the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Bodo wrote that "Federer remains a legitimate threat to win the major that begins less than a month after the end of the French Open, Wimbledon. Federer and Djokovic towered head and shoulders above the field in London last year. "

When Federer returns to the court, who knows how many titles, epic matches or Grand Slams he'll have left in him. Whatever is left will be savored by fans who must now understand that soon there will be no more.

This setback forces fans to prepare for tennis post-Federer.

Of course, tennis and the ATP World Tour will survive. After Federer retires, new stars will emerge. Then, after the sting of his departure wears off, fans will reminiscence about the good old days when the Maestro played so eloquently. 

Follow Merlisa on Twitter @merlisa.