After his finals loss to Milos Raonic at the Brisbane International, world number three Roger Federer responded to questions about his odd 2016 schedule. That schedule currently has the 17-time Grand Slam winner skipping all of the European clay court tournaments in advance of the French Open.

Federer: I Could Play A Tournament on Clay

Federer was directly questioned about the comments that his coach Severin Luthi had made earlier in the week about the possibility of playing a clay tournament prior to the French Open. Federer expanded upon why he would not announce anything yet, saying, "I did not want to disappoint my fans. If I play it will be a surprise for them. I will decide after Indian Wells, depending also on the results I will get until that tournament." 

Currently, Federer is scheduled to play 16 tournaments this year, including the 2016 Summer Olympics. The Olympics will be played on hard courts in Rio de Janeiro. 

Roger Discusses the Hot-Button Topic of Prize Money

Many people have been discussing the topic of prize money in tennis lately. The major tournaments have been committing more and more money, while Federer believes some of the money could be allocated in different ways. He was quoted as saying, "I know that sometimes the difference between the winner and the first round loser is big, but the Tour is committing a lot. I would like to see that also on the Challenger tour, the prize money increases. I know it's hard; they work hard, and it's difficult to find a sponsor."

The 'Fed-Express" Shares His Views on Two Young Australian Players

While both Nick Kygrios and Bernard Tomic are up-and-coming Australian tennis players, they have also been in the news a lot within the past year for things other than their play. The more famous story is the incident between Kyrgios and Federer's fellow countryman Stan Wawrinka, which gained a lot of media attention. Kyrgios was picked on up microphone during his match with Wawrinka at the 2015 Rogers Cup making inappropriate comments to the Swiss about his girlfriend. The young Australian gained a lot of slack for this, but Federer believes it's time to move on.

"It was a tough American summer for him," Federer said. "But people get second chances. Everybody deserves one, depending on what you did, clearly. It was not good what he did, but at the same time, let's see how he's going to behave in the future."

Beyond Kyrgios' personal life, Federer made sure to comment on the Australian's game, noting, "He has to make sure that the game is there, and obviously he has to behave well. He's always been a guy that I enjoyed seeing play. It was just that he crossed the line a couple times too many. I think with experience it's not going to happen so often anymore."

In addition to Kyrgios, Tomic, currently ranked number 17 in the world, made headlines this week with some questionable quotes. Tomic was quoted as saying he was ready to break into the top ten. On this topic, Federer was a little skeptical, saying, "He's been good, but then top ten is another story. The year is not just one month long or one week long. It's 52 weeks. It's every day. That, he's been struggling to show, to be quite honest."

Federer went on, adding, "Many seasons in a row we have now seen or heard that top 10 is the goal, and he's missed out on it by a long shot. I think before speaking so highly, maybe it's good to take it to the next level, whatever that is. We shall see. We all know how well Bernie can play; I thought he played very well (in Brisbane), and I hope he can do well at the Australian Open as well."

Tomic is slated to play today at the Apia International Sydney against Jordan Thompson. Kyrgios is taking part in the Kooyong Classic today against David Goffin. Federer will be back in action next week in Melbourne for the Australian Open.