Swiss maestro and former world number one Tennis player Roger Federer on Wednesday informed that he would be undergoing another arthroscopic surgery on the right knee and, as a result, miss the remaining part of the 2020 season. He hoped to return at the start of 2021.
“Dear fans, I hope you are staying safe and healthy. A few weeks ago, having experienced a setback during my initial rehabilitation, I had to have an additional quick arthroscopic procedure on my right knee,” Federer said in his statement.
“Now, much like I did leading up to the 2017 season, I plan to take the necessary time to be 100 % ready to play at my highest level. 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. All the best, Roger,” he added.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion last participated in the Australian Open where he lost to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals earlier this year. This will be the longest duration the 38-year-old would be away from the tour since making his debut in 1998.
Earlier, Federer had skipped the entire second half of 2016 due to injury before returning to win the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2017.
Recently, Federer had become the first from tennis to top Forbes’ list of highest paid athletes. With an estimated $106.3 million earned over the past 12 months, he edged out Portuguese football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo from the top spot.
Meanwhile, the 2020 season has been majorly affected due to the crisis caused due to the ongoing crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic which has so far claimed more than 4 lakh lives across the world.
All forms of professional tennis have been suspended until at least July 13 due to the novel coronavirus situation across the globe. All scheduled ATP and WTA tours have either been postponed or cancelled. This year’s Wimbledon Open became the first since World War 2 to be cancelled.
With IANS inputs