‘I want a glimmer of hope to return’: Federer ‘realistic’ about chances of coming back from more knee surgery

Roger Federer will get more surgery on his injured knee, acknowledging it could be the end of his tennis career.

Federer had two knee surgeries during the 2020 season that kept him out until after this year’s Australian Open in February.

The 20-time major champion returned in March but could not play his fourth-round match at June’s French Open, lost to Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon last month and withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics with another knee injury.

Federer announced on Instagram that his recovery had “not been simple” and said he had been told by doctors that he needed more surgery, which would rule him out of the year’s final major, the US Open, which starts on August 30.

“I’ll be on crutches for many weeks and then also out of the game fro many months,” he said on Instagram.

“It’s going to be difficult of course, but I know it’s the right thing to do.”

The 40-year-old said he wanted to get back on court, but acknowledged there was no guarantee he would be able to continue his 23-year professional career that had yielded more than 100 singles titles.

“I want to be healthy, I want to be running around later as well,” he said.

“I am realistic, don’t get me wrong; I know how difficult it is at this age to do another surgery, but I want to be healthy.”

Federer is currently ranked ninth in the world and has not won a title or reached a final since 2019.