Roger Federer has shocked the tennis world by announcing he’ll be sidelined until after the French Open following knee surgery.
The 38-year-old announced on Thursday night (AEDT) that after experiencing knee pain, he opted for an arthroscope which will sideline him until the grass court season.
He will also miss high profile tournaments such as Miami, Indian Wells and Dubai.
"My right knee has been bothering me for a little while,” Federer said in a statement.
"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.
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) February 20, 2020
"As a result, I will unfortunately have to miss Dubai, Indian Wells, Bogota, Miami and the French Open. I am grateful for everyone's support.”
The 20-time Grand Slam champion hasn’t played an official match since his semi-final straight sets defeat to Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open.
Federer played two five set epics against John Millman and Tennys Sandgren before succumbing to the eventual champion.
He hasn’t won a Grand Slam tournament since the Australian Open in 2018.
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