Roger Federer will miss French Open after knee surgery but is confident of recovery for Wimbledon: ‘I can’t wait to be back playing again soon, see you on the grass!’
- Roger Federer underwent knee surgery and will miss a number of tournaments
- He released a statement saying the injury has been bothering him for a while
- Lay-off means Swiss star will miss French Open but he is confident of recovery
Roger Federer is to miss the next three months of the season after undergoing surgery on his right knee, a reminder that even the greats are not immortal.
The Swiss master will not be far off his 39th birthday by the time he hopes to return, for the lead-in tournaments to Wimbledon.
‘My right knee has been bothering me for a little while,’ he said this morning in a social media announcement.’I hoped it would go away but after an examination and discussion with my team, I have decided to have arthroscopic surgery in Switzerland yesterday.’
Roger Federer will miss the French Open but is likely to return in time for Wimbledon
It means he will now miss the current swing of hard court tournaments in Dubai and the USA, plus the French Open, which was to be his token clay court outing of the year.
Given his success this time twelve months ago, which saw him win the titles in Dubai and Miami, and reach the final at Indian Wells, there will be damage done to his current ranking of No 3. He also made the semi-finals at Roland Garros.
A big summer awaits Federer in Wimbledon, the Olympics and the US Open, and he clearly wants to prioritise those. He stated that he was optimistic about the outcome for what is left of his stellar career.
‘After the procedure, the doctors confirmed that it was the right thing to have done and are very confident of a full recovery,’ he added.
‘I am grateful for everyone’s support. I can’t wait to be back playing again soon, see you on the grass!’
Federer went under the knife on Wednesday and will miss a number of tournaments