Roger Federer to Miss French Open After Knee Surgery

There were concerns he might withdraw from his semifinal against Djokovic, but he decided to play after undergoing medical exams. He started strongly before losing the opening set in a tiebreaker and then faded as Djokovic prevailed, 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-3, on his way to the title.

Federer, who has been getting retirement questions since the early 2010s, reiterated in Melbourne and Cape Town that he had no plans to retire.

But Federer, who has four young children with his wife, Mirka, has also has made it clear that he will continue only as long as it makes it sense for his family.

What drives him at this stage is his connection with the public, manifest in moments like the Cape Town match, but also his conviction that he still has the game to win more major titles.

He was asked after losing to Djokovic at the Australian Open if he still had that faith.

“I do believe that,” he said. “I think by having the year that I had last year, also with what I have in my game, how I’m playing, I do feel that.”

He is within range of more records, including Jimmy Connors’s Open era men’s record of 109 career singles titles. Federer has 103. If he does return to action this summer ahead of the Olympics in Tokyo, he could also chase the one significant tennis prize he is missing: an Olympic gold medal in singles.

But for now all that is clear is that Federer, at a very advanced tennis age, needs to recover from another surgery, one that outsiders did not see coming.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/20/sports/roger-federer-surgery-french-open.html