20-time grand slam champion Roger Federer has shut down his season after undergoing a second procedure on his knee.
The 38-year-old, who hasn’t played a match on the Tour since his semi-final loss at the Australian Open, has undergone arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. Similar to the procedure he also underwent back in February. The announcement comes following speculation that Federer’s recovery hasn’t gone as smoothly as hoped. In a recent interview with Swiss TV channel RTS coach Severin Luthi admitted that the recovery process hadn’t gone to plan without elaborating further.
“A few weeks ago, having experienced a setback during my initial rehabilitation, I had to have an additional quick arthroscopic procedure on my right knee,” Federer said in a statement.
“Now, much like I did leading up to the 2017 season, I plan to take the necessary time to be 100% ready to play at my highest level.’
“I will be missing my fans and the Tour dearly, but I will look forward to seeing everyone back on the Tout at the start of the 2021 season.”
There has previously been signs that the current world No.4 wouldn’t be returning to action anytime soon. Back in May during an Instagram Live chat with Rafael Nadal, Federer said his recovery slowed six weeks after the first procedure this year. A month later Global Esporte quoted him as saying that he wasn’t training at present because he ‘don’t see a reason’ to do so during a interview with Gustavo Kuerten. At the time it was assumed that Federer’s comment was linked directly to the Tour suspension and nothing else. It is also interesting to note that during the same interview, he said he was ‘happy with his body.’
The announcement is likely to reignite speculation that Federer could retire from the sport in the near future. Set to turn 39 later this year, he is currently the oldest player in the top 100 on the ATP Tour and one of only two aged 38. The other being Spain’s Feliciano Lopez.
In light of all tennis tournaments being suspended since March, it will be the longest period of time Federer has been away from the ATP Tour since making his debut back in 1998. He missed six months of the 2016 season due to a similar knee issue before returning at the start of the following year and winning the Australian Open.
Federer ends his season by playing in just one tournament. At the Australian Open he saw off John Millman and Tennys Sandgren in five sets to reach the last four. However, he was then knocked out in straight sets by eventual champion Novak Djokovic. It is the first time in Federer’s career that he has only featured in one out of the four grand slams within a season since making his main draw debut at the 1999 French Open.
The Swiss player has won 103 ATP titles so far in his career and has spent a record 310 weeks as world No.1.
