Federer crashed out of Wimbledon in the quarter-finals last year as he ran out of steam.
The Swiss star reached the final of both the Stuttgart and Halle Opens in 2018 and the two weeks of gruelling tennis took it’s toll.
At 37 years old, Federer is no spring chicken and cannot play at such a high level for weeks on end.
So he has decided to only participate in Halle this time out - meaning he will vacate his Stuttgart title.
“I am not signing for Stuttgart,” Federer said after crashing out of the Madrid Open to Dominic Thiem.
“I just thought it was a lot of grass-court tennis last year.
“I just felt like only Halle was better for me.
“That’s the plan.”
Earlier this week, Stuttgart Open tournament director Edwin Weindorfer believed he could tempt Federer to take a wild card.
But those hopes have now been dealt a bitter blow.
"It's very simple. Roger decided he wants to wait how the situation is in Paris,” Weindorfer told Tennis World USA prior to Federer’s decision.
“We have a wild card reserved for him, we also have a wild card for Rafa if he loses early in Roland Garros.
But we have decided for a different strategy.
"Our goal is to have Roger playing in 2020 and if he wants to play in 2019, we would make a deal between us.
“The relevant thing is not the appearance fee but if he decides to play a second grass-court tournament as he did in the previous years, competing in Stuttgart and Halle.”
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