Roger Federer announced Wednesday morning that he recently experienced a setback in his recovery from knee surgery, and will be out for the remainder of the 2020 season so as to be “100% ready to play at my highest level.”
Federer, 38, previously underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in February that would have forced him to miss the clay-court season, including the French Open, had the professional tennis tours not been halted in March by the coronavirus pandemic. The French Open, originally scheduled for May, was postponed to September, and Wimbledon was canceled for the first time since World War II.
The 20-time Grand Slam winner wrote on Twitter that following a setback in his initial rehabilitation from the February surgery, he “had to have an additional quick arthroscopic procedure on my right knee.”
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) June 10, 2020
In 2016, Federer took off the latter half of the season, missing the Summer Olympics and US Open, to fully recover from a left knee injury that had plagued him for the majority of the year. He came back to win the Australian Open in January 2017, defeating Rafael Nadal in five sets while ranked No. 17, his lowest in over fifteen years. Federer went on to win Wimbledon without dropping a set for his 19th major title.
“Much like I did leading up the 2017 season, I plan to take the necessary time to be 100% ready to play at my highest level,” Federer wrote in his post. “I will be missing my fans and the tour dearly but, I will look forward to seeing everyone back on tour at the start of the 2021 season.”