Roger Federer is reportedly withdrawing from the Australian Open while he continues to recover from knee surgery.
Tony Godsick – Federer’s long-time representative and CEO of their management company, TEAM8 – said the former world No.1 won’t make the trip to Australia to play in the rescheduled Open in February.
“Roger has decided not to play the 2021 Australian Open,” Godsick said in a statement.
“He has made strong progress in the last couple of months with his knee and his fitness.
“However, after consultation with his team, he decided that the best decision for him in the long run is to return to competitive tennis after the Australian Open.”
Federer, 39, is currently training in his usual off-season home in Dubai.
He hasn’t played a tournament match since late January at the 2020 Australian Open, where he was clearly injured while losing in straight sets to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.
Just weeks later, Federer announced he had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.
He later had a second procedure.
The start of the Australian Open’s main draw was delayed by three weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic and is now scheduled to begin on February 8 at Melbourne Park.
One measure of Federer’s popularity: Despite appearing in only six matches in 2020, he recently was voted the winner of the ATP Tour fans’ favourite award for the 18th consecutive time.
Until this knee issue, Federer only had his career interrupted once by an operation — on his left knee in 2016.
He sat out the second half of that season, including the Rio de Janeiro Olympics and the U.S. Open, but was back at his best when he resumed playing, winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2017.
He won the Australian Open again the following year for his sixth trophy there, to go along with eight from Wimbledon, five from the U.S. Open and one from the French Open to complete a career Grand Slam.
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