Roger Federer to miss out remaining matches in 2020 due to knee surgery

"I will look forward to seeing everyone back on tour at the start of the 2021 season," said Federer.

Twitter/@rogerfederer

New Delhi: The 20-time Grand Slam holder Roger Federer on Wednesday (June 10, 2020) said he is planning to take the necessary time to be 100% ready after recently having surgery on his right knee.

Federer who last played in the Australian Open semis in January against Djokovic said in a photo statement, "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.”

The 38-year old added, "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 look forward to seeing everyone back on tour at the start of the 2021 season." 

pic.twitter.com/zXnR7gAZQA

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) June 10, 2020

Tennis has been one of the names on the sporting events list that have been canceled/postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak across the world.

The virus that was first detected in Wuhan (China) in late December 2019, was declared a ‘pandemic’ by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on March 11, 2020, after which the sporting events were halted in order to contain the spread of the virus.

In tennis, Wimbledon, the oldest Grand Slam tournament, was canceled for the first time since 1945. The next edition of the grass-court tournament will be from June 28 to July 11 in 2021. 

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) also said the claycourt Grand Slam at Roland Garros would now take place from September 20 - October 4, 2020. It was scheduled to commence from May 24.

The US Open organisers also recently said that they still hope to hold the tournament as planned in New York slated for August 31.

Federer had also planned to represent Switzerland at the Tokyo Olympics, which have also been deferred due to COVID-19 that has taken more than 4 lakh lives around the world. 

The Summer Olympics will now be staged from July 23 to August 8 in 2021.