Roger Federer has announced in a video via his Instagram page that he would be facing “many months out” due to another knee surgery he is due to undergo in a little while, ruling the 20-time Grand Slam winner out of the 2021 US Open.
Federer, who is ranked 9th in the latest ATP rankings, missed the 2021 Australian Open and pulled out of the French Open after winning his third round match, citing his injury problems as the reason. The 40-year-old returned to action in Wimbledon as he fell in the quarterfinal to Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, casting doubts about whether he would ever appear in the tournament again in his post-match press conference on the occasion. Federer has seen his record haul of 20 Grand Slams caught up to, first by long-time rival Rafael Nadal in 2020 and by Novak Djokovic in 2021. He underwent a double knee surgery to correct his troublesome knees in 2020 and has since played only a handful of matches. He missed out on representing Switzerland in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, as he started his rehabilitation process in the hopes of returning during the summer. Unfortunately, the setback has put paid to his plans.
While a timeframe for his recovery was not given in the announcement, it is a given that Federer would miss the year-ending Grand Slam, the US Open, between August 30th and September 12th, as well as a huge chunk of what is left of the calendar year. The 40-year-old confessed that while it would be difficult for him to return to his best after such a surgery given his age, he was optimistic that he would be able to recover and return to the court as soon as he could. He also stated that his goal was to be able to run around still even after he retires from active tennis. He revealed that his doctors had told him that the surgery would be the best option for him, and he took the option to help him get better.
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