Roger Federer (image via Zimbio.com)
Roger Federer has stunned the tennis world by announcing that he has decided to end his 2016 season early due to an ongoing knee injury.
The 17-time grand slam champion has been plagued by a knee problem since the start of the year. In February he underwent arthroscopic surgery to investigate the problem. A procedure found that the 34-year-old had torn his meniscus (a piece of cartilage that provides a cushion between your thighbone and shinbone).
Since the diagnoses, Federer has returned to the tour in what has been a roller coaster year for the former world No.1 consisting of illness and injury. Besides his knee woes, the Swiss player was also forced to miss the French Open due to a back injury. Fortunately for the army of Federer fans, he has fully recovered from that injury. On the other hand, Federer has now come to the conclusion that he requires “more extensive rehabilitation” on his knee in order to prolong his career.
“I’m extremely disappointed to announce that I will not be able to represent Switzerland at the Olympic Games in Rio and that I will also miss the remainder of the season.” Federer said in a statement.
“Considering all options after consulting with my doctors and my team, I have made the very difficult decision to call an end to my 2016 season as I need more extensive rehabilitation following my knee surgery earlier this year.
“The doctors advised that if I want to play on the ATP World Tour injury free for another few years, as I intend to do, I must give both my knee and body the proper time to fully recover.”
Concerns regarding the state of Federer’s knee circulated during the Wimbledon championships. In his semifinal match against Milos Raonic, Federer called a trainer twice to attend his knee.
Regardless of his nightmare 2016, the Swiss tennis legend has pledged to continue his career beyond this year.
“The love I have for tennis, the competition, tournaments and of course you, the fans remains intact.” He said.
“I am as motivated as ever and plan to put all my energy towards coming back strong, healthy and in shape to play attacking tennis in 2017.”
Federer’s 2016 retirement means that he will finish the season without a title for the first time since 2001. Managing to play in just seven tournaments this year, the world No.3 achieved a win-loss of 21-7 on the tour and reached only one final at the Brisbane International.
Roger Federer’s troublesome 2016
January
Brisbane International – Runner-up to Milos Raonic
Australian Open – Semifinalist (lost to Novak Djokovic)
February
Misses the Rotterdam Open and Dubai Tennis Championships due to a knee injury
March
Federer’s attempted comeback at the Miami Masters ends in disappointment. A stomach virus forces him out of the competition.
April
After almost three months away from the tour, Federer returned to action at the Monte Carlo Masters with back-to-back wins over Spanish players Guillermo Garcia-Lopez and Roberto Bautista Agut. His run was ended in the quarter-finals by Dominic Thiem.
May
Madrid Open – A back injury forces the 34-year-old out of the tournament.
Rome Open – Suffers a straight sets loss to Thiem in the third round.
French Open – A back injury forces him to withdraw. Roland Garros was the first grand slam tournament without Federer since the 1999 US Open.
June
Stuttgart Open – Semifinalist (losing to Thiem for a second time this year)
Halle Open – Semifinalist (lost to Alexander Zverev).
July
Wimbledon – In his final tournament of the year, Federer reached the last four at SW19 by dropping only two sets in his first six matches. He bowed out in five sets to Milos Raonic in the semifinals.