The world No. 3 who’s renowned for his relatively injury-free career underwent an arthroscopic surgery in February this year – the first in his 18 year professional career – to fix a torn meniscus in his left knee, which he apparently suffered while running a bath for his twin daughters.
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Tennis at this year’s Olympics will be bereft of the magic of Roger Federer after the maestro announced that he is giving it a miss to recover from injuries.
The 17 times Grand Slam victor has endured a troublesome campaign which included withdrawing from the French Open due to a back complaint, although he did reach the Wimbledon semi-final before losing to Milos Raonic.
Federer says he intends to play on the ATP World Tour for another few years, and needs to give his body time to recover.
Serena Williams and Andy Murray are scheduled to defend their Olympic singles titles, with the Rio tournaments starting August 6 and culminating the following weekend.
In Brazil, Federer was expected to play singles, doubles with Wawrinka, and mixed doubles with Martina Hingis.
“It is tough to miss the rest of the year”, Federer wrote.
He’s also had back issues this season, missed the French Open to end his record 65-appearance streak at major tournaments, and did not win a title of any sort in 2016 making it the first year since 2000 that he will finish without at least one trophy. Federer, the current world number three, made the announcement in a Facebook post.
When he reached the last four at Wimbledon, he won a five-set thriller in the quarter-finals against Marin Cilic. “However, the silver lining is that this experience has made me realize how lucky I have been throughout my career with very few injuries”, he said.
Federer went on to write he is “as motivated as ever” to come back “strong” and healthy next year.
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He has not played since losing to Milos Raonic in the Wimbledon semi-finals earlier this month.
