Roger Federer out of action until 2021 after second knee operation
Former world No 1 Roger Federer says he will be out of action until 2021 after having a second surgical procedure on his right knee.
Australian Open 2020 – Roger Federer – Suisse
The 38-year-old Swiss, who had a knee operation shortly after the Australian Open, said he had a setback in training “a few weeks ago” and needed “an additional quick athroscopic procedure on my right knee”.
Federer’s long-time coach Severin Luthi had admitted earlier this week that Federer was slightly behind in his recovery from his first knee operation in February, and the 20-times Grand Slam champion confirmed the news on social media early on Wednesday morning.
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) June 10, 2020
Given the uncertainty of when the ATP Tour will return because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Federer is not likely to miss too many tournaments, though the US Open is still hoping to happen in August and Roland-Garros, postponed from May, is due to be begin in late September.
The ATP Tour is reportedly planning to hold a remote press conference on Wednesday to discuss plans for the rest of the season though some players, including world No 1 Novak Djokovic and No 2 Rafael Nadal have expressed their doubts as to whether there will be any more tennis in 2020.
Federer had knee surgery for the first time in 2016, an injury which forced him to miss the second half of that year. He bounced back strongly, though, winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2017 and then the Australian Open again in 2018 to extend his record tally of Grand Slams to 20.
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