Roger Federer says new ‘setback’ in injury recovery will keep him out until 2021

Fed wrote a note to his fans explaining what happened.

Professional tennis doesn’t seem to be coming back anytime soon, and if it does, superstar Roger Federer won’t be on the court.

Federer announced on Twitter on Wednesday that while recovering from the arthroscopic knee surgery he had in February in Switzerland, which, sans coronavirus outbreak, would have caused him to miss a handful of tournaments, including the French Open.

But he has since suffered “a setback during [his] initial rehabilitation,” and the 20-time Grand Slam champ won’t be competing for the remainder of 2020, regardless of the ATP Tour starting back up again or not. (In May, the tour announced an extension to the season’s suspension because of the COVID-19 pandemic through the end of July.)

But the 38-year-old still isn’t calling it quits and said he plans to be back for the start of the 2021 season. On Twitter, Federer wrote a delightfully polite letter to his fans explaining his situation and additional injury:

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. 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 the tour at the start of the 2021 season.
All the best,
Roger

Referencing the 2017 season, Federer took the back half of the 2016 season off while recovering from a recurring injury to his left knee — he also had arthroscopic knee surgery at the beginning of that season — and was unable to compete in the Rio Olympics or the U.S. Open later that summer. He turned 35 during that time off as questions about the future of his career swirled.

However, not only did he come back strong, but he also won the 2017 Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season, and his most recent major win is the 2018 Aussie Open.

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