Federer undergoes knee surgery set to miss French Open

Roger Federer has undergone surgery to resolve a longstanding knee problem and said on Thursday he would be out of action until after the French Open.

The 20-times Grand Slam winner revealed on his Facebook account that he underwent surgery in Switzerland on Wednesday and would miss a string of tournaments including the May 24-June 7 French Open.

“As a result, I will miss Dubai, Indian Wells, Bogota, Miami and the French Open,” he said.

The 38-year-old explained that he had intended to avoid surgery if possible but the problem in his right knee refused to go away.

He will now target a return for the grass court season and an assault on a ninth Wimbledon title after reaching the final in 2019 where he had two championship points before losing an epic final to Novak Djokovic.

“My right knee has been bothering me for a little while,” added the world No 3 who reached the Roland Garros semifinals last year.

“After the surgery the doctors confirmed that it was the right thing to have done and are very confident of a full recovery. I can’t wait to be back playing again soon, see you on grass.”

Federer was French Open champion back in 2009 but will now miss Roland Garros for the fourth time in five seasons.

His absence from Paris means his great rival Rafael Nadal, the 12-time champion, can draw level with the Swiss on 20 majors. Federer also underwent surgery on his left knee in February 2016 which allowed him just seven tournaments that season.

His last appearance on a court was an exhibition event in Cape Town where his charity match with Nadal was played in front of 50,000 spectators, a world record for a tennis event.

This year’s Wimbledon runs from June 29-July 12 with the Tokyo Olympics tennis event following from July 25-August 2. Federer has yet to win a singles gold medal at the Games.- AFP