Roger Federer has confirmed that he will be out until the grass court season after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.
Federer, 38, had planned to play in the French Open but revealed he had undergone surgery in Switzerland on Wednesday to help fix his knee.
“My right knee has been bothering me for a little while.” Federer wrote on social media.
“I hoped it would go away but after an examination, and discussion with my team, I decided to have arthroscopic surgery in Switzerland yesterday.
“After the procedure, the doctors confirmed that it was the right thing to have done and are very confident of a full recovery.
” As a result, I will, unfortunately, have to miss Dubai, Indian Wells, Bogota, Miami and the French Open. “
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“I am grateful for everyone’s support.
“I can’t wait to be back playing again soon, see you on the grass!”
The surgery switches Federer’s focus from Roland Garros to Wimbledon and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
In typical Federer fashion it wasn’t clear that he was even suffering with an injury, let alone one that would require surgery.
Without knowing the severity of his ailment it’s hard to know what impact this is going to have on him, but if he doesn’t expect to be back until the grass season that doesn’t leave a lot of time to get himself ready for Wimbledon and Tokyo.
That assumes that he is going to be back at all – the surgery sounds like it was a success but there’s still no way of telling how his body will react, particularly given his age.
In a perfect world the surgery is exactly what he needed, as seems to be the case according to his medical team, and it allows him to play to the highest level his body can allow in the summer.
Plus it’s not as if he was going to be a contender at the French Open, with all signs pointing to Rafael Nadal drawing level with him on 20 Grand Slam titles.
This was mooted to be part of a potential farewell tour so will we see Federer at Roland Garros ever again? Only time will tell.
Source: Eurosports