Roger Federer will cut exhibition matches from his 2009 schedule as he pursues Pete Sampras's record of 14 Grand Slam singles titles.

Federer faced Sampras in a three-match series across Asia last November and again in New York City last March. Federer's agent, Tony Godsick, said that such commitments won't be repeated next year.

"Roger will only play a schedule that works for him physically," Godsick said Sunday after Federer won his hometown Swiss Indoors tournament.

"The next couple years you will see him put his seat belt on and focus for the big ones, the Grand Slams and the big tournaments."

Federer is within sight of history with 13 Slams after a fifth straight US Open victory last month.

That Flushing Meadows win was defined as a defiant comeback in a year when Federer fell sick with mononucleosis, was beaten by players outside the top 10 and lost his No 1 ranking to Rafael Nadal after a record reign of 237 weeks.

"It was tough for him when people were writing him off," said Godsick, who guides Federer's off-court activities for IMG.

"For him to do what he did (at the US Open) was good for him, good for his confidence, and I think really silenced the critics."

Godsick dismissed the idea that the 27-year-old Swiss is old in tennis terms, but says Federer is entering a new phase after his rise to the top and multiple seasons of domination.

"I think it is the third stage of his career, but it is just the beginning of the third stage," Godsick said. "I think he has got many years to come."

Federer is already nursing his body more carefully after his usual training calendar was wrecked this season by illness and the timing of the Beijing Olympics in August. He skipped a tournament in Stockholm, Sweden, earlier this month.

(Agencies via China Daily October 28, 2008)