Roger Federer has announced that he will be “out of the game for many months” as he has made the decision to have his third knee surgery in the last 18 months. The world No 9 took to Instagram to share a video revealing his plans after consulting with doctors. The 20-time Grand Slam champion had two procedures on his knee last year and has played just five tournaments since, suffering a new setback with the injury during the grass court season which forced him to withdraw from the Olympics, Toronto and Cincinnati.
Posting an IGTV video titled ‘update’, Federer revealed he had made the decision to have another knee surgery, having already had two last year.
“As you can imagine, it’s not been simple,” he said on Instagram.
“I’ve been doing a lot of checks with the doctors as well on my knee getting all the information as I hurt myself further during the grass court season and Wimbledon.
“It’s just not the way to go forward so unfortunately for the medium-to-long term to feel better I will need surgery.”
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“But I want to be healthy and I’ll go through the rehab process with the goal, while I’m still active, which I think is going to help me during this long period of time.”
Despite the worrying news, the 103-time title winner stayed positive and thanked fans for the messages of support he was anticipating in light of his announcement.
“You guys are always incredible, you always think of me. Some of you suffer with me, some of you just wish me the best or want to see me back on court or see me smile.
“I am doing ok so I appreciate that and I will update with you as I move along with my rehab.”
The former world No 1 said he would be checking back in during the recovery process, as he hopes to return to professional tennis in the future.
The announcement comes after Federer was already forced to skip the US Open warm-up events in Toronto and Cincinnati, where he cited the ongoing knee injury as his reason for withdrawal.
It means he will miss the upcoming US Open as well as a whole host of events as he will be sidelined for months, including the Laver Cup in Boston, a tournament Federer created with his management company TEAM8 which pits ‘Team Europe’ against ‘Team World’ in a Ryder Cup-style clash.
He has already received a number of messages from the likes of the US Open tournament and rivals like Nick Kyrgios wishing him well in his recovery.
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