World number two Roger Federer insisted that his decision to skip Rogers Cup this year was a part of his plan to manage workload and not avoid clashes with arch-rival Rafael Nadal.
Responding to critics who had lashed out at him after he withdrew from the Masters 1000 tournament in Montreal, Federer said that the sport means more to him than the duels with Nadal.
"For me, it's about something more than clashes with Nadal: it means health and tennis enjoyment. The main goal is to win titles: that's why numbers and records are secondary," Federer was quoted as saying by Tennis365.
"It depends a lot also on what numbers. It's very special to be there personally in the history of my favourite sport. As a kid, I would never think that I would be in the book's records."
Federer has not played against Nadal since Shanghai Masters last season. The 36-year-old has skipped clay-court action for over the last two seasons even as the Spaniard reigned supreme on the red dirt.
The two tennis greats were expected to meet for the first time this season at Rogers Cup, starting August 3. However, Federer's surprise decision to skip the cup came as a huge disappointment for quite a few tennis fans.
Notably, nine of the top 10 players on the ATP charts, will be in action in Montreal with Alexander Zverev defending the title. Federer had lost to the German youngster in straight sets during last year's final.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion, who faltered at the quarter-final stage of his title defence at Wimbledon earlier this month, is expected to return to competitive action at Cincinnati Master's, which begins 15 days before US Open.
Federer reveals joy in tennis
Federer will be dropping 750 points due to the withdrawal from Rogers Cup. The decision has also put his chances of clinching the year-ending number one spot in jeopardy as he will fall further behind Nadal in ATP's 'Race to London' charts.
Nadal is already 1740 points ahead of Federer, who is at 5760, but the Swiss great insists numbers aren't and have never been his priority.
"The goal was to be the best as possible, hoping to be on the biggest stages of the world, maybe meeting my idol. And yes, lifting a trophy on the air. But not to reach those numbers! That was (in) someway impossible for me," Federer added.
"That's why my joy in tennis is still so big. Because inside, I always stayed on the ground, I know it: it's not normal, it's not reality.
"But I accept it and I take it as a challenge to defend my titles or lift some trophies."
